The current and future direction of the U.S. Air Force avionics is discussed. While the paper discusses primarily tactical aircraft avionics, the findings and conclusions are applicable across USAF systems. The paper covers the acquisition methodology, the background and trends of avionics and future approaches. The basic influences are operational needs, availability, survivability, available technology, cost and schedules. The challenge is to provide effective avionics in a budget constrained world. To accomplish this requires emphasis on providing performance to counter the threat, flexibility for diverse use and basing, cost and schedule realism, and systems capable of being upgraded through planned growth as the threat changes. It has been shown that the final 5 to 10 percent improvements in performance can increase the cost 20 to 50 percent, therefore, 'sufficient' and not 'best' performance should be the goal. While initial acquisition cost is of concern, life cycle cost is even more important. To keep life cycle costs down and have an effective system during combat, maintenance concepts need serious attention. To accomplishe these objectives, the discrete avionics systems of the past must be replaced with integrated avionics responsive to crew needs, increasing threats and fiscal constraints. Future needs will cause continued increases in avionics cost. The use of new technologies, new avionics system integration and architecture techniques, use of common hardware, modular and reusable software and improving the environment in which the avionics must operate, can control the life cycle cost of avionics while meeting needs of future systems.
Avionics Acquisition, Trends and Future Approaches
1987
11 pages
Report
No indication
English
Aircraft , Avionics , Acquisition , Fighter aircraft , Methodology , Predictions , Trends , Combat , Constraints , Cost effectiveness , Economy , Maintenance , Risk , Technology assessment , Tactical aircraft
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