Systems commonality: integrated avionics for the MH-47E and the MH-60K

The program described involves two aircraft: the MH-47E, which is a special modification of the Boeing CH-47D Chinook, and its complement, the MH-60K version of the Sikorsky UH-60L Black Hawk. The author provides an overview of the IBM integrated avionics subsystem (IAS), which extends the communication and navigation capabilities of the Chinook and Black Hawk aircraft by integrating avionics processing and supplying cockpit management. The hardware and mission processor software functions that constitute the IAS are discussed, in addition to the redundant system architecture which is based on Mil-Std-1553B data bus. One-hundred percent hardware and software commonality has been achieved in the IAS design. Maximum aircraft availability is enhanced through the commonality of equipment and software while the number of spares and test equipment required to support both aircraft is reduced