Navy chooses General Dynamics to provide flight computers for jet bomber and EW aircraft
PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md., 17 Jan. 2013. U.S. Navy aviation experts needed advanced flight computers for the service's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet jet fighter bomber and E/A-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft. They found their solution from General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems in Minneapolis.
The Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., has awarded General Dynamics a $19.2 million contract modification for 76 forward fit Type 3 Advanced Mission Computers (AMCs) for the Super Hornet and Growler aircraft.
The AMC is a rugged embedded computer that performs general purpose, I/O, video, voice, and graphics processing. Communication is over several buses, including 1553, Fibre Optic Fibre Channel, and Local PCI.
Single-board computers and other modules in the AMC fit in an industry standard 6U VME backplane, and the I/O configuration may be tailored with PMC mezzanine card (PMC) modules. An Ethernet interface supports software development and system maintenance.
The AMC's core system software (CSS) is a real-time operating system with embedded system software, application program interface, and diagnostic software set for the AMC. The computer's I/O includes MIL-STD-1553 drivers, Fibre Channel drivers, VMEbus drivers, and discrete and serial I/O drivers.
On the current contract modification, General Dynamics will do the work in Bloomington, Minn., and Albuquerque, N.M., and should be finished by December 2014.
For more information contact General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems online at www.gd-ais.com, or Naval Air Systems Command at www.navair.navy.mil.
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.
