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2020-10-14

Collins Aerospace Showcases Innovative Solutions at Air, Space & Cyber Conference

The U.S. Air Force Association (AFA) held its first virtual Air, Space & Cyber Conference, themed, “Aerospace Nation: Air, Space & Cyber Forces in the Fight,” from September 14-16. The virtual event garnered more than 9,700 registrants, 85 exhibitors and sponsors, 94 speakers, and 30 panels and presentations, including remarks from President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Mark Esper. Registration remains open and the virtual platform will host all content through the end of the year.

At the event, virtual attendees had the opportunity to learn about the latest in military aircraft technology from Collins Aerospace Systems, a unit of Raytheon Technologies Corp. The company’s digital exhibit highlighted its extensive portfolio of capabilities designed to enhance operational efficiency, while keeping the warfighter safe.

Collins Aerospace exhibited its latest and award-winning products. These included:

NP2000 Propeller Systems

Collin Aerospace’s C-130 NP2000 propeller system offers a number of benefits compared to legacy systems. The company announced recently that it has been selected to deliver NP2000 propeller systems for an additional 30 Lockheed Martin C-130H aircraft for the U.S. Air National Guard (ANG) and Air Force Reserve (AFR).

With its eight composite blades and digital Electronic Propeller Control System (EPCS), NP2000 offers a number of benefits compared to legacy systems including: a 20 per cent thrust increase during take-off, a 20db sound reduction in the cockpit and a 50 per cent reduction in maintenance man-hours. Along with C-130 variants, NP2000 has been in service with U.S. and international customers on the Northrop Grumman E-2 and C-2 since 2004, and is planned for use on the Lockheed Martin P-3.

With the receipt of this new order, bringing the total order to 55 C-130H aircraft to date, Collins Aerospace continues to make progress toward U.S. Air Force’s (USAF) plan to retrofit approximately 160 C-130H aircraft with NP2000. In addition to the new order, the company earned the system’s C-130H Air Worthiness Certification from USAF and completed the first formal combined NP2000/EPCS installation on a USAF C-130H in April.

ACES 5 Concept Ejection Seats

ACES 5 is the latest addition to Collins Aerospace’s collection of Advanced Concept Ejection Seats. It is reportedly the only ejection seat in the world qualified to MIL-HDBK-516C compliant safety standards and its unique features provide a faster deploying drogue parachute and a stability package (STAPAC) to compensate for pitch changes and aerodynamic effects, reducing the risk for injury.

Airborne ISR Solutions

The MS-177 Family of Systems (FoS) provide better image resolution over a longer range and greater coverage area per hour than any other Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) sensor in the U.S. military inventory, according to reports.

Recently, Collins Aerospace Systems was awarded a US$19.9 million contract by the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Research (ONR) to conduct a maritime experiment of the company’s MS-177A long-range multi-spectral imaging sensor on a Navy flight test P-3C Orion aircraft. The experiment will mark the first time Collins Aerospace’s MS-177A has been flown by the Navy. The previous version of the sensor, the MS-177, has completed flight testing on the USAF Global Hawk and will soon go operational.

Over the course of the 30-month contract period, Collins Aerospace will fabricate an MS-177A sensor and supporting flight test hardware from its existing USAF production line and install it on the P-3C aircraft. The follow-on phase will encompass experimental flights in a maritime threat environment. Results of the experiment will demonstrate the MS-177A’s ability to expand the Navy’s maritime ISR capabilities in the Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), Anti-Surface Warfare (ASuW) and Mine Warfare (MIW) mission domains using a mature USAF sensor system.

The MS-177A system employs design elements of Collins Aerospace’s fielded Senior Year Electro-optical Reconnaissance System (SYERS) sensor flown on the U-2 to deliver high geo-location accuracy, collecting imagery in the Visible, Near-IR, SWIR and MWIR spectral channels resulting in advanced terrestrial and maritime mission capabilities.

HGS for Unique Mission Demands

The Head-up Guidance System (HGS) from Collins Aerospace is designed to meet the unique mission demands of military aircraft. It provides the latest digital head-up display technology and enables eyes-forward flying, reducing pilot reaction time and improved situational awareness.
Aircraft equipped with HGS can safely operate in the day and night while navigating adverse weather conditions including rain, fog, and smoke.

Reference Text/Photo: www.collinsaerospace.com, Credit ANG

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