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Integrated avionics give
F-22 unprecedented capabilities
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Master Sgt. Rob Fuller
325th Fighter Wing
Public Affairs
9/10/2002 - TYNDALL AIR FORCE
BASE, Fla. (AFPN) -- Bullets are not the only
things flying at a fighter pilot during the heat of battle.
Tons of data from instruments and sensors, plus information
from other friendly aircraft, fill the cockpit and bombard the
pilot.
That was before the F-22 Raptor.
The
integrated avionics on an F-22 are designed to gather much of
that data and give it to a pilot using concise, consistent
methods. Data is prioritized as the battle develops and
increases the pilot's situational awareness.
"Three
key sensor platforms -- radar, electronic warfare and
communications, and navigation and identification -- combine
to form the advanced integrated avionics suite that provides
the F-22 pilot with unprecedented capabilities," said Bruce
Ammerman, a Boeing Co. F-22 avionics director.
Boeing
is responsible for integrating the F-22's advanced avionics.
The company has been testing software packages in its avionics
integration lab since 1998, on its 757 flying test bed since
March 1999, and on the F-22 flight-test aircraft since January
2001, according to Boeing officials.
Boeing has
conducted more than 21,000 hours of avionics testing in the
lab and more than 865 hours on the test bed, officials said.
The integrated avionics concept is designed to
increase the pilot's effectiveness by providing as much
information as possible without data overload. The process is
critical because a pilot could never process all the
information flowing into the system, but must be able to make
instantaneous decisions about the developing battle that only
a human can make.
Conventional fighters require the
pilot to analyze data shown on displays from different
systems. The F-22 is designed so the systems integrate the
data from several sources and provide the pilot with a
"battlefield" picture of the current situation.
"A
clear advantage over previous generation aircraft is the
F-22's ability to gather information from multiple sensors,
both onboard and offboard the aircraft, and fuse it to present
a comprehensive view of the mission environment," said
Ammerman. "Computers process unprecedented amounts of data, so
a pilot doesn't have to manage and monitor the system as much
-- (there is) less housekeeping."
Each display
provides an overall view and all use the same symbols in order
to alleviate confusion. Symbols are also color-coded so pilots
can quickly distinguish "friend or foe" at a glance.
Even when the pilot is dealing with offensive
decisions, the defensive systems continue to give the pilot
information about other possible threats in the area. The
avionics system even provides the pilot with a "shoot list"
prioritized by speed, range and type of threat.
Raptors speak their own language via an intraflight
data link that can synchronize the displays of multiple F-22s
in formation so that all view the same situation developing.
Integrated avionics means different things to
different people, depending on their role in the mission. To a
pilot, it means all information is coordinated and available
from a single source, and that means more time to concentrate
on the business at hand: winning the battle. (Courtesy of Air
Education and Training Command News Service)
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