Lockheed Martin has selected Harris Corporation to upgrade mission system avionics for the F-35 as part of the Technology Refresh 3 project.
The upgrades will, the company say, significantly boost the aircraft’s data storage, display processing and throughput capabilities.
The announcement was made during the Paris Air Show.
According to the company:
“Harris will provide the Aircraft Memory System (AMS) and Panoramic Cockpit Display Electronic Unit (PCD EU), which are based on open architecture and commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) technology.
The AMS provides solid-state mass storage capability for the F-35 aircraft avionics subsystems. It is the repository for avionics operational flight programs, mission and theater data, prognostics and health data, audio, display video, and aircraft parametric data. The PCD EU provides processing for the panoramic head-down display in the cockpit.”
Ed Zoiss, president, Harris Electronic Systems said:
“The new TR3 electronics pave the way for system upgrades well into the future.
Open systems are the future of avionics and Harris is investing substantial R&D to develop these solutions. These awards affirm the military’s approach to open systems architecture and Harris’ commitment to delivering more affordable, higher performance solutions than would have been possible using proprietary technology.”
The development phase will begin this month, followed by a system qualification phase in early 2019, and a subsequent 5-year production contract phase.
