C-17 successful application of existing automatic test equipment

Author

Sidhwa, Frank ; Bothello, Pamela

Author_Institution

McDonnell Douglas Transport Aircraft, Long Beach, CA, USA

Volume

10

Issue

3

fYear

1995

fDate

3/1/1995 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

29

Lastpage

34

Abstract

The C-17 Program utilizes existing B-1B Automatic Test Equipment (ATE). The C-17 decision is in harmony with the Air Force emphasis on reducing proliferation of unique ATE. The ATE selection was made after consideration of cost, performance and supportability tradeoffs. Minimal augmentation of the government inventoried equipment was required which did not affect the existing hardware and software configuration, This approach significantly reduced C-17 program ATE development costs and afforded the program the use of established logistics elements and support structure. The C-17 program demanded concurrency of support structure and aircraft development-the ATE solution met that demand by reducing risks to a manageable level for both test program set development, and Air Force operation and training requirements

Keywords

aircraft computers; automatic test equipment; economics; military avionics; product development; weapons; ATE; Air Force; B-1B Automatic Test Equipment; C-17 Program; automatic test equipment; cost; development costs; logistics elements; performance; support structure; supportability; Automatic test equipment; Concurrent computing; Costs; Government; Hardware; Logistics; Management training; Military aircraft; Risk management; Testing;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0885-8985

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/62.391914

Filename

391914