U.S. Army Experimental Demonstration Gateway Exercise

Avilution LLC, a Huntsville-based avionics software company, successfully demonstrated a number of its emergent technologies at 2023’s U.S. Army Experimental Demonstration Gateway Exercise (EDGE 23). The event, in which Avilution participated from 15 through 18 May, was held at the U.S. Army’s Yuma Proving Ground in southwestern Arizona.

For purpose of ensuring its aircraft remain combat-ready, the U.S. Army’s modernization efforts include the implementation of a Modular Open System Approach (MOSA) at once conducive to the maximization of interoperability and the rapid deployment of new technologies with minimal disruption to operations and budgetary constraints.

At the event, the Avilution team, in collaboration with the U.S. Army, demonstrated its capabilities for leveraging MOSA, showcasing its eXtensible Flight System’s (XFS) ability to perform rapid, real-time software integration—including the implementation of features in the field in real-time. A tabletop setup with a UH-60V Cyber Defense Unit (CDU)  and a CH-47F CDU, each tuning the same PRC-167 radio showed a practical example of 95-percent reuse of code between the UH-60V (Blackhawk) and CH47F (Chinook) platforms. Leveraging the UH-60V’s MOSA architecture, Avilution and Northrop Grumman were able to quickly integrate the PRC-167 radio application and demonstrate the full system operating in a Georgia National Guard UH-60V aircraft as a ground demonstration. While an airworthiness release was not sought for purposes of the demonstration, Northrop Grumman performed an All Line Replaceable Unit (LRU) test to confirm the changes worked as intended with no adverse impact to aircraft operation.

Avilution founder and CEO Mark Spencer set forth the initial prototype implementation for the Blackhawk spanned 27 days, with the prototype later extended to support the Chinook in only three days. The project transitioned from a virtual proof of concept demonstration to implementation of National Guard specific requirements and, ultimately, installation and ground demonstration on the actual UH60V Blackhawk within a three-month period after the contract was awarded. The described work builds upon Avilution's prior Army Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Contract.

While the May 2023 demonstration was geared toward the DoD sector, Avilution’s MOSA implementation demonstrates, also, the potential commercial capabilities of XFS. Originally developed for the general aviation market at private expense, XFS was matured through multiple Army and Air Force Phase II SBIR contracts from 2018 through 2023.

Mr. Spencer remarked: “The most important part of Avilution's EDGE exercise, in my view, was demonstrating the ability to leverage our highly modular design philosophy to provide new capabilities, even entirely new data items, without requiring changes to the Operational Flight Program.”

During exercise’s four days, Avilution was able to add support for P25 Call Groups and a guard monitor-function on the PRC-167 radio. What’s more, the company was also able to implement support for interoperating with another Army radio (PRC-158).

J.T. Naylor, who leads Northrop Grumman’s strategy for UH-60V and MOSA architecture development, expressed satisfaction with the demonstration, stating: “This is the holy grail for Army Aviation—the ability to rapidly integrate operational capability without the onerous timelines, cost, and proprietary hurdles that have historically plagued our efforts. That’s why the Army initiated the UH-60V program, to break that paradigm. This demonstration shows that we really can implement new operational capability in weeks rather than years.”

FMI: www.avilution.com