1,500th New Navy Mission Computer Rolls off the Line
Vicki Nagle, left, deputy integrated project team lead for the Advanced Mission Computer and Displays program in the Air Combat Electronics Program Office (PMA-209) and Capt. Tracy Barkhimer, PMA-209 program manager, examine a computer circuit card for an Advanced Mission Computer (AMC) with Brian Schubloom Sr., manufacturing manager for General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, during a visit to the company’s Bloomington, Minn., plant on Aug. 2.
The Navy and industry partner General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems marked the milestone production of a key computer system used in naval aircraft.
Under the Advanced Mission Computer and Displays program, or AMC&D, General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems has now delivered the 1,500th AMC, including the 1,000th Type 3 AMC, which are used to replace aging AYK-14 systems on major Navy aircraft platforms.
The AMC&D system is currently used on the AV-8B Harrier, the F/A-18A-D Hornet, the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and the EA-18G Growler. On the F/A-18E/F and EA-18G, the AMC&D system replaces legacy AYK-14 Mission Computers and aging CRT Displays with integrated Advanced Mission Computers, network switches and high resolution displays.
The AMC&D system represents a new generation in computing capability for naval aviation, Navy officials said. Where the AYK-14 systems were limited to data processing, the AMC&D systems bring orders of magnitude increases in processing performance and memory, display and video processing capability and high-speed networks to the fleet. By integrating mission and image processing into a single system, the AMC&D computers enable pilots and aircrew to identify, track and designate targets in ways that could not be done with the older AYK-14 systems.
In addition, with the inclusion of high-speed networks, high-definition images can be transferred between systems and stored for later evaluation. On a more basic level, the AMC&D is an open-architecture system capable of drawing on the latest commercial processing, networking and software development technologies available (think iPads and PCs), unlike the AYK-14 systems that used Navy unique architectures and were limited by government funding for advancements.
Source: AIR-1.0 Public Affairs
