ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. -- Representatives from the Department of Defense met to discuss milestones of an aircraft survivability program demonstration hosted by the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command's communications-electronics center, or CERDEC, and Program Executive Office Intelligence Electronic Warfare and Sensors, or PEO IEW&S, here March 28.
The Integrated Aircraft Survivability Equipment Technology Demonstration Program Correlation Software is government developed software that improves aircraft survivability and mission planning beyond currently available software by bringing together available threat data and analyzing that data so the pilot doesn't have to do so separately.
Integrated ASE takes sensor input from current and future aircraft survivability systems to identify multi-spectral threats such as infrared, radio frequency, ultra-violet and electro-optic to provide system identification of a threat, said Curt McMullen, CERDEC Intelligence and Information Warfare Directorate, or I2WD, Integrated ASE project lead.
The implementation of Integrated ASE will allow for earlier missile declaration and better threat identification, said McMullen.
Currently, each ASE sensor identifies spectral warnings individually, and the pilot must interpret a variety of icons, said McMullen.
For example, if a threat system has RF, laser, UV and IR, it appears on the display screen as individual components instead of an individual system, and the pilot would have to analyze the display to determine what he thinks is the threat and how it should be handled.
Through correlating available data, CERDEC I2WD looks to improve the pilot's situational awareness by decreasing the margin of human error in the analysis of the display screen, and then merging and prioritizing countermeasures for more effective responses.
The increased efficiency in threat identification will increase the amount of time the pilot has to respond to a threat, said McMullen.
CERDEC I2WD and PM ASE are taking a holistic approach by looking across the spectrum to create a more complete picture of threats in order to increase capabilities already in existence, said Col. John (Russ) Leaphart, project manager of PEO IEW&S Project Management Office ASE.
"We want to maximize aircraft survivability without degrading combat mission effectiveness," said Leaphart.
By making Integrated ASE a software add-on for systems already on the aircraft there is no additional weight or power cost to aviation platforms.
"Weight and power is costly to platforms, because the more weight and power a system adds, the less fuel and ammo Soldiers can take into the fight," said Leaphart. "Software is important because its weight and power don't impact mission effectiveness negatively."
Initial requirements for the integration of aircraft survivability were developed at Fort Rucker, Ala., and the Joint Requirements Oversight Council approved the Army Standards Improvement Executive for Integrated ASE in June 2011.
CERDEC I2WD has worked with former Apache pilots from PMO ASE as resources for identifying threats and how to best present Integrated ASE to people outside of the Integrated ASE development, said McMullen.
"We are building our software requirements specifications in parallel with the development of the actual software," said McMullen.
Since the correlation software, which is being developed by CERDEC I2WD, is government developed and owned, Integrated ASE will not be tied to a specific contractor, allowing for the software to be adapted independently of contract companies' labor rates. The correlation software can also be reused in future endeavors that have any sort of data fusion or correlation engine requirement, said McMullen.
To date, the system and subsystem specifications have been outlined and the operational concept documentation has been developed. Integrated ASE laboratory testing, which utilizes CERDEC I2WD's in-house laboratory facilities is scheduled to be completed by July 2013.
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