19-06-2012, 01:44 PM
Laser Designation Pod on the Italian Air Force AM-X Aircraft
Laser Designation Pod on the Italian Air.pdf (Size: 781.42 KB / Downloads: 51)
Introduction
m0 c b Development It is widely accepted that the key point in 10
keeping up-to-date modern combat aircraft is 01
no longer the airframe but the mission system. ,
The airframes have a life that easily exceeds _
twenty years, while the mission systems
rapidly become obsolete with respect to the Figure 1 - Examples of aircraft operational life
ever-advancing state-of-the-art of the
electronics and computers (Figure 1). The As final users, the air forces are the best
"mid-life update" is an already well- candidate to identify and analyse the new
established term indicating a set of upgrades requirements to be implemented. Many of
ranging from structural life extension to new them have therefore developed in-house
radar, communication systems, navigation capability to study or to modify the software
sensors, cockpit instruments, weapons.
Integrate the CLDP onto the AM-X.
Despite elements of complexity. With regards to the
the wide diffusion of similar systems, the stored data and to the functions offered to the
integration of the CLDP on the AM-X posed pilot, it can in fact be defined as a distributed
upon us a new challenge. system. In other words, many of the functions
in the mission system are performed via a co-
The initial pre-feasibility study [3] (that operation of two or more subsystems. As a
prompted the acquisition of a prototype CLPD consequence, modifying or enhancing such
for the AM-X) had only defined the guidelines functions requires operating on different
for the integration: the CLDP had to be used as equipment, which may adopt different
a targeting sensor for the precision delivery of hardware and software solutions (e.g. the used
Laser Guided Bombs (LGB), and as a programming languages go from assembly, to
navigation sensor. The CLDP prototype Fortran, to Ada), requiring a broad range of
integration project was therefore set off as a skills not usually available in the same
low-budget short-term activity aiming at (1) personnel.
Project Organisation
concern technical (functional) aspects of the
integration (e.g. the data the CLDP has to In order to reduce the associate risks, and to be
provide as navigation sensor); most of them compliant, at the same time, with the loware
related to non-functional aspects. These budget and short-term constraints posed on the
regards both human factors, such as pilot project, it has been organised following some
workload, pilot performance, and situation simple guidelines, that is:
awareness, and system quality attributes, such 0 minimise modifications to the AM-X
as safety, reliability, time and cost. In avionics system;
comparison with functional requirements, non- * exploit internal IAF resources and
functional requirements are highly subjective capabilities, i.e. personnel (test pilots and
(e.g. test pilots and front line pilots can have a engineers, technicians) and equipment
different perception of the same problem), (low-cost avionics simulators and
strictly related to the particular context, and computers).