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 In late February, the Lockheed Martin JSF team began airborne testing of its prototype multisensor avionics as part of the JSF Concept Demonstration program. Testing is being conducted in Northrop Grumman’s Cooperative Avionics Test Bed, a modified BAC 1-11 aircraft, from their facilities in Baltimore, Maryland. Airborne testing is required to reduce risk by factoring in dynamic, real-world effects on sensor performance that cannot be adequately reproduced in simulations or ground testing.
The advanced-technology prototype avionics systems installed in the aircraft include the Northrop Grumman multimode radar and distributed infrared sensor system, the Kaiser helmet-mounted display, and a Lockheed Martin processor. The radar features an electronically scanned array antenna. The infrared sensor system, along with the helmet-mounted display, allows the pilot to “look” in any direction to spot targets and threats, day or night. The helmet-mounted display provides the pilot with off-boresight target/sensor cueing capability, as well as other data traditionally provided by a fixed head-up display. The JSF will be able to correlate target data from on-board sensors and off-board sources.
The Lockheed Martin JSF team plans approximately fifty flights and 150 flight hours in the aircraft this spring and summer. Engineers will use data from the flights to verify sensor design and fusion, as well as to provide environmental effects data to refine sensor models and simulations.
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