Mikros to continue developing ADEPT test and measurement systems for shipboard electronics and radar
CRANE, Ind. – U.S. Navy shipboard electronics experts are continuing a project to build and deploy a test and measurement system to maintain, align, calibrate, and error-diagnose complex electronic systems like military radar and communications systems.
Officials of the Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division in Crane, Ind., announced a $35.2 million sole-source Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase III contract Monday to Mikros Systems Corp. in Princeton, N.J., for additional work on the company's Adaptive Diagnostic Electronic Portable Test (ADEPT) sets.
The Mikros ADEPT sets are for phased-array radars, rotating radars, and communications systems. The sets help Navy technicians detect and troubleshoot error and out-of-alignment conditions; collects and analyzes maintenance data; and supports test automation, condition-based maintenance, distance support, and interactive training.
ADEPT combines three pieces of general-purpose electronic test equipment -- an oscilloscope, a digital multimeter, and a digitizer -- into one test box to perform maintenance on several military radar systems -- particularly the Aegis radar and combat system aboard Navy cruisers and destroyers, Navy officials say.
Mikros experts will carry out engineering and technical services, logistics services, data management, production of ADEPT set kits and spares, training, calibration, and repairs.
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ADEPT's open architecture is designed for easy integration of various documentation types, and supports HTML documents as well as the military's Planned Maintenance System (PMS) and Interactive Electronic Technical Manuals (IETM), company officials say.
The test equipment interface is extensible to PXI or USB-connected devices, and its underlying database helps consolidate an unlimited number of standalone ADEPT units.
ADEPT eliminates the need for traditional manuals, paper documentation, and discrete test equipment, Mikros officials say. When an instruction in a test procedure calls for the use of a specific embedded test instrument, ADEPT opens the instrument control and display window and sets up the instrument for test point measurement.
Users receive "known-good" references, along with a pass/fail indication, and the system stores operations and measurements for after-action analysis, off-line training, and prognostics analysis. ADEPT also features distance-support to enable local technicians work together with remote experts in real time.
Mikros developed ADEPT under the Navy’s SBIR program to streamline maintenance and troubleshooting on the Aegis AN/SPY-1 family of shipboard phased array radars.
Since the system uses commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) instrumentation modules, ADEPT variants can support preventive maintenance and condition-based maintenance on other radars and complex electronic systems in military or commercial applications, Mikros officials say.
The ADEPT sets received high scores in the US Navy's Trident Warrior experiment in 2009 when the test sets performed advanced distance support for the Navy's Aegis system. During the experiment ADEPT transferred health and performance data for the SPY-1 radar using secure data links.
Subject matter experts in California viewed this information in real time while the test ship performed maneuvers in the Atlantic Ocean. On this SBIR Phase III contract Mikros will do the work in Largo, Fla. and Fort Washington, Pa., and should be finished by January 2022.
For more information contact Mikros Systems online at www.mikrossystems.com, or the Naval Surface Warfare Center-Crane at www.navsea.navy.mil/Home/Warfare-Centers/NSWC-Crane.
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John Keller | Editor
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
