A Cost-Effective Approach to Avionics Integration in Multiple Airborne Platforms

The cost of avionic systems has been increasing at twice the rate of other areas of defense spending yet their useful lives are only five to seven years. The design life of the aircraft hosting the avionics systems is 20 years. With both the costs and the number of modifications increasing, a cost-effective approach to multiple platform avionics integration must be implemented. The factors driving the cost of modi fyi ng aircraft are discussed and an approach that can realistically reduce the total cost of a United States Air Force Class V modification program is described. This approach accelerates the involvement of platform managers in the avionics design process so that the constraints peculiar to each aircraft can be identified and influence the design requirements of the avionic system.