Improving Capabilities and Supporting Future Modernisation

Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions has been awarded a $24 million contract by Nellis AFB to provide flight test instrumentation (FTI) equipment in support of the F-35 Technology Refresh 3 (TR-3) programme, the company announced on 12 June.

TR-3 represents a series of critical upgrades to the aircraft′s hardware and software, intended to improve displays, memory and computer processing capability, while also supporting future modernisation capabilities. “The receipt of this contract reflects our long-standing relationships and ongoing collaboration with the F-35 Joint Program Office and US Flight Test Range engineers and personnel, and demonstrates the trust and confidence that customers place in Curtiss-Wright’s advanced and reliable integrated high-speed flight test instrumentation systems,” commented Curtiss-Wright Corp’s CEO, Lynn M Bamford.

The company has worked closely over the past three years with US Flight Test Ranges, including Nellis AFB and the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, as well as the F 35 JPO, to define and architect the Distributed Flight Test Instrumentation (DFTI) system that enables the test and evaluation of F-35 TR-3 configured aircraft. Curtiss-Wright’s FTI technology forms part of the DFTI system, in which products and subsystems that enable the acquisition, collation, processing, recording, and telemetry of flight test data support the seamless transport of that data. Because it is networked, DFTI enables the distribution of FTI equipment closer to the measured parameters, resulting in increased test accuracy.

Since 1998, Curtiss-Wright has successfully supported Nellis AFB with FTI solutions that meet the highest standards. As a total systems provider for FTI, the company provides products and services that collect, collate, process, record, transmit via RF links, and analyse and display flight test data.