EMALS & JPALS for the JSF

Discuss the F-35 Lightning II
User avatar
Elite 5K
Elite 5K
 
Posts: 28404
Joined: 05 May 2009, 21:31
Location: Australia

by spazsinbad » 01 Feb 2014, 11:38

NAVAIR Flight Ready: Joint Precision Approach and Landing System 29 Jan 2014 NAVAIRSYSCOM
"Engineers at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., discuss the successful evolution of the Joint Precision Approach and Landing System (JPALS). Learn more about this innovative technology from inception to the first shipboard landing on USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71)."


"TRANSCRIPT: Capt. Darrell Lack/Program Manager, PMA-213, NAVAIR Air Traffic Management Systems Program Office
Shawn Faubion/Deputy Program Manager for Landing Systems, PMA-213; Paul Sousa/Assistant Manager for Test & Evaluation, JPALS; Dave Crawford/ Lead Test Engineer, JPALS

Faubion: JPALS is a precision approach and landing system based on GPS technology. Instead of the historically radar and beacon based landing systems which the navy and marine corps are currently using. It is intended to bring a capability and flexibility that those legacy landing systems don’t offer and also an interoperability that could be used across, eventually, ship, shore, manned, unmanned, fixed and rotary wing aircraft.

Lack: JPALS in the future is primarily going to be in the F-35 B and C models for the Navy and Marine Corps and also the UCLAS Unmanned air systems. It utilizes the existing GPS constellation it brings those signals in, does mathematical computations between two assets, and aircraft and then a ship, and it calculates a touch-down point onto an aircraft carrier deck.

Crawford: There was a lot of preparation to get ready for what was our very successful period on the boat. A lot of that started back in the September, October time frame here at Pax River. We did conduct a large number of F/A-18 flights here shore based and built our way down from elevated touch downs to ultimately touchdowns to the deck here and all of that was in preparation to say we were ready to go do work on the boat.

Faubion: Patuxent River with its lab facilities allows us to demonstrate that JPALS can be integrated onto the ship in a very controlled fashion and we can demonstrate that without the risk, uncertainty and cost of actually being on the ship at the time.

Sousa: The latest at-sea testing was conducted aboard Theodore Roosevelt, CVN-71. We had two F-18 jets out there instrumented for JPALS, with the JPALS airborne system installed as well as the ship board system installed on the ship.

Lack: We had over 50 precision approaches and landings, the performance that we saw it was landing precisely where we were asking it to land, where it had been programmed to land and the pilot reports that came back it was very gentle, it was a gentle landing. It acted just like, if you will, just like the legacy systems; over all it was a very good success.

Fabuion: We’ve proven out that the ship system can provide the ability to land an air vehicle hands-off. We are going to be making some improvements over the next year or two to the JPALS ship system and to the software that’s going to be running in the air system so that it will have that degree of safety without a pilot in the loop.

Crawford: We had something that was good for us in this and that we kept it simple, we tried to use things we had done in the past to decide that we could work towards it at the ship and I think that helped us.

Sousa: It was a very pleasant experience to see, not only the system work the way it did, but the whole team, the JPALS, the program office, the test team, engineering, everybody working together along with the contractor; I think it was a very good evolution at sea. >>>out<<<"

Shown from screenshots: Instrumented / Marked JPALS Hornet and the View From the HUD - on speed (optimum AoA), on centreline and on the ball....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6q49h_dC0U

Attachments
JPALShornetMarkingsTESTscreenie.jpg
JPALShudView.png
JPALShudView.png (113.5 KiB) Viewed 67917 times


User avatar
Elite 5K
Elite 5K
 
Posts: 28404
Joined: 05 May 2009, 21:31
Location: Australia

by spazsinbad » 17 Apr 2014, 06:41

Naval Aviation Vision 2014-2025
"...Magic Carpet
Magic Carpet is an acronym for Maritime Augmented Guidance with Integrated Controls for Carrier Approach and Recovery Precision Enabling Technologies. It is a cockpit system that makes carrier approaches and landings easier and safer for Navy and Marine Corps pilots by reducing the vulnerabilities associated with fully-automated systems that are susceptible to jamming, poor reliability, and electronic failure. Magic Carpet’s integrated direct lift improves short-term flightpath response, which is critical to final glide slope corrections prior to landing. This system is currently flown in the F-35C and being retrofitted for testing in the F/A-18E/F. The potential cost-saving impacts of Magic Carpet are significant. Millions of dollars are spent yearly on landing practices ashore and actual carrier qualifications while underway. The money saved could be repurposed to train pilots to employ the weapon systems of their aircraft, dramatically changing their priorities from landing proficiency to warfighting proficiency. Conservative estimates indicate that Magic Carpet could save tens of millions of dollars per year, which include reducing the maintenance and repairs after hard landings aboard ship...."

SOURCE: http://www.scribd.com/doc/218758281/Nav ... n#download (11Mb PDF)


User avatar
Elite 5K
Elite 5K
 
Posts: 28404
Joined: 05 May 2009, 21:31
Location: Australia

by spazsinbad » 17 Apr 2014, 22:34

Navy Ford (CVN-78) Class Aircraft Carrier Program: Background and Issues for Congress
Ronald O'Rourke, Specialist in Naval Affairs 09 Apr 2014

"...JPALS [Joint Precision Approach and Landing System]
• The Navy has proposed to the USD(AT&L) Milestone Decision Authority that the program be restructured from its current, land- and sea-based, multiple-increment structure to a single increment focusing on sea-based requirements primarily supporting JSF [Joint Strike Fighter; aka F-35] and future Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike aircraft. Under this proposed restructuring scheme, there will be no retrofitting of JPALS on legacy aircraft and the Navy will need to maintain both the legacy approach and landing system and JPALS onboard each aircraft-capable ship.

JSF
• The arresting hook system remains an integration risk as the JSF development schedule leaves no time for discovering new problems. The redesigned tail hook has an increased downward force as well as sharper design that may induce greater than anticipated wear on the flight deck.

• JSF noise levels remain moderate to high risk in JSF integration and will require modified carrier flight deck procedures.

- Flight operations normally locate some flight deck personnel in areas where double hearing protection would be insufficient during F-35 operations. To partially mitigate noise concerns, the Navy will procure new hearing protection with active noise reduction for flight deck personnel.

- Projected noise levels one level below the flight deck (03 level), which includes mission planning spaces, will require at least single hearing protection that will make mission planning difficult. The Navy is working to mitigate the effects of the increased noise levels adjacent to the flight deck.

• Storage of the JSF engine is limited to the hangar bay, which will affect hangar bay operations. The impact on the JSF logistics footprint is not yet known.

• Lightning protection of JSF aircraft while on the flight deck will require the Navy to modify nitrogen carts to increase their capacity. Nitrogen is used to fill fuel tank cavities while aircraft are on the flight deck.

• JSF remains unable to share battle damage assessment and non-traditional Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance information captured on the aircraft portable memory device or cockpit voice recorder in real-time. In addition, the CVN-78 remains unable to receive and display imagery transmitted through Link 16 because of bandwidth limitations. These capability gaps were identified in DOT&E’s FY12 Annual Report. The Combatant Commanders have requested these capabilities to enhance decision-making...."

SOURCE: http://www.scribd.com/document_download ... ension=pdf (6.6Mb)


User avatar
Elite 5K
Elite 5K
 
Posts: 28404
Joined: 05 May 2009, 21:31
Location: Australia

by spazsinbad » 19 Apr 2014, 08:46

Two U.S. arms programs face live-or-die reviews after costs jump 18 Apr 2014 Andrea Shalal

"...a precision ship-landing system built by Raytheon Co face mandatory reviews that could lead to their cancellation after quantity reductions drove unit costs sharply higher in 2013, the Pentagon announced on Thursday....

...The cut in quantities of Raytheon's Joint Precision Approach and Landing System (JPALS) came after the Army and Air Force decided to pull out of the joint program, which resulted in the need for 10 fewer shore-based training systems, the report said.

The cost increase in the JPALS program also was partly due to an extension in the development program aimed at increasing the capability of the system, and higher material costs...."

Source: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/04/1 ... II20140417

_______________________

After a while this all becomes double dutch due to sequestration effects - but the law is the law and the US Congress must be obeyed eh. IF It is not the SAR then so what it is some GAO report of recent vintage anyway....

Joint Precision Approach and Landing System Increment 1A (JPALS Inc 1A) Mar 2014 pages 85-86 (numbered)

JPALS Increment 1 is a Navy-led program to develop a GPS-based aircraft landing system to replace current radar-based systems on its ships. It is designed to provide reliable precision approach and landing capability in adverse environmental conditions and improved interoperability. Increment 1A is the ship-based system and increment 1B will integrate JPALS with sea-based aircraft. Both are needed to provide the full capability. We assessed increment 1A and made comments on increments 1B, 2, and other follow-on efforts.

JPALS Increment 1A's two critical technologies are mature and have been demonstrated in a realistic environment. Program officials reported completing baseline software development as of April 2012. The program began system-level development testing in July 2012 and sea-based testing in December 2012. The program completed 108 integrated flight tests with no major anomalies reported. Increment 1A's production decision scheduled for November 2013 was cancelled due to budget reductions, with a new date to be determined. Ship availability delays for installation and procurement changes resulted in schedule and cost breaches, respectively, of thresholds in the program's baseline. Increment 1B is scheduled to start system development in 2015. Lead responsibility for Increment 2, land-based JPALS, transferred from the Air Force to the Navy beginning in fiscal year 2014....

...Other Program Issues
The program's production decision, scheduled for November 2013, was cancelled and a new date has yet to be determined. Program officials stated that budget reductions due to sequestration eliminated funding for the low-rate initial production contract. They noted that a new date will not be scheduled until the Navy resolves this funding issue. The program previously delayed the production decision from May 2013 to November 2013 because the aircraft carrier needed to conduct ship-based integrated testing was not available for installation. As a result, the program reported a schedule breach of the acquisition program baseline.The program also extended planned production to avoid acquiring systems earlier than needed and moved the purchase of one unit from development to procurement. These changes increased procurement costs and resulted in a cost breach of a threshold set in the acquisition baseline.

System development for JPALS Increment 1B— which will integrate JPALS with sea-based aircraft— is scheduled for 2015. Program officials stated that increment 1B will be developed to provide JPALS functionality in a packaged way that allows for integration with any aircraft rather than tailoring efforts to each individual platform. Increment 2 is the land-based version of JPALS and system development is scheduled for 2015. Beginning with fiscal year 2014, lead service responsibility for JPALS Increment 2 transferred from the Air Force to the Navy.

Program officials stated that the recently conducted successful auto-land demonstrations may allow for the incorporation of capabilities planned for future increments. Incorporating auto-land and unmanned aerial vehicle capabilities into increments 1A and 1B will provide enabling technology for the Navy's future ship classes and the Unmanned Carrier- Launched Surveillance and Strike program for which JPALS was selected as the primary landing system.

Program Office Comments
In commenting on a draft of this assessment, the JPALS program office noted that it concurred with our review and that flight testing was highly successful and the system performed as intended with no significant design or performance issues identified to date. The program is working aggressively with the Navy and the Office of Secretary of Defense to resolve the cost and schedule breaches, and anticipates corrective actions will be incorporated in the fiscal year 2015 President's budget submission. The progam office also provided technical comments, which were incorporated where deemed appropriate."

Source: http://www.gao.gov/assets/670/662184.pdf (11Mb)


User avatar
Elite 5K
Elite 5K
 
Posts: 28404
Joined: 05 May 2009, 21:31
Location: Australia

by spazsinbad » 19 Apr 2014, 09:30

Department of Defense Selected Acquisition Reports (SARs) (As of December 31, 2013) 17 Apr 2014

"...A. Nunn-McCurdy Unit Cost Breaches for 2013...

...Critical Breaches: (Unit cost increases of 25 percent or more to the current APB or of 50 percent or more to the original APB)

Joint Precision Approach and Landing System (JPALS) Increment 1A– The PAUC increased 104.3 percent and the APUC increased 129.0 percent above the current APB, due to the elimination of 10 previously required shore-based training systems. Also contributing to the unit cost increases were an extension of the development program to include capability improvements, a lower and longer procurement profile, and higher material costs."

Source: http://www.defense.gov/releases/release ... seid=16644

http://www.defense.gov/pubs/SAR_SUMMARY ... _FINAL.pdf (0.8Mb)


User avatar
Elite 5K
Elite 5K
 
Posts: 28404
Joined: 05 May 2009, 21:31
Location: Australia

by spazsinbad » 13 May 2014, 09:19

OLD News with slant....

Navy Restructures JPALS To Focus On F-35, UCLASS; Scraps Plans For Increment 2 DefenseAlert - 25 Apr 2014

"The Navy has overhauled plans for its Joint Precision Approach and Landing System, reducing near-term spending spending by $1 billion, cutting procurement by 27 percent and accelerating development to support the Joint Strike Fighter and the Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike System, according to service officials...."

SOURCE: http://defensenewsstand.com/index.php?o ... Itemid=412


User avatar
Elite 2K
Elite 2K
 
Posts: 2895
Joined: 24 Oct 2008, 00:03
Location: Houston

by neptune » 13 May 2014, 22:48

Navy to Test Electromagnetic Catapult on Carrier
by Kris Osborn on May 13, 2014

The Navy is preparing to launch the first ship-board tests of a new Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System designed to replace steam catapults and propel fighter jets and other aircraft off the deck of an aircraft carrier and into the sky over the ocean, service officials said.

The EMALS system, which uses an electromagnetic field to propel aircraft instead of the currently used steam catapult, is slated for the new Ford-class aircraft carriers. The first EMALS system has been under construction for several years aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), the first in class of the new carriers expected to deliver to the Navy in 2016, Navy officials said. This summer, the Navy will start incremental testing on board the USS Ford wherein “dead loads” placed on weighted sleds are catapulted by the EMALS system into the river, said Capt. Jim Donnelly, program manager for aircraft launch and recovery equipment. “As things get connected they will increase the number of tests.

[...]

Read more: http://defensetech.org/2014/05/13/navy- ... more-22923


:)


User avatar
Elite 5K
Elite 5K
 
Posts: 28404
Joined: 05 May 2009, 21:31
Location: Australia

by spazsinbad » 13 May 2014, 23:05

Thanks for putting in the paragraphs 'neppie' - otherwise on the URL just a wall of HTML text - and pay 'em peanuts! :devil:


User avatar
F-16.net Webmaster
F-16.net Webmaster
 
Posts: 3769
Joined: 23 May 2003, 15:44

by Lieven » 13 May 2014, 23:13

spazsinbad wrote:Thanks for putting in the paragraphs 'neppie' - otherwise on the URL just a wall of HTML text - and pay 'em peanuts! :devil:


Sorry, I shortened the excerpt before I noticed the URL to which is referred contains that' wall of text'. Anyway, we can just copy full articles from other sites. It's best to pick a few paragraphs to which you want to comment or which you would like to highlight.


User avatar
Elite 5K
Elite 5K
 
Posts: 28404
Joined: 05 May 2009, 21:31
Location: Australia

by spazsinbad » 13 May 2014, 23:24

'Lieven' seems like a "NOT" is missing from your text above?


User avatar
Elite 5K
Elite 5K
 
Posts: 28404
Joined: 05 May 2009, 21:31
Location: Australia

by spazsinbad » 19 Jun 2014, 20:36

Navy’s newest aircraft launch system goes retro
18 Jun 2014 PEO(T) Public Affairs

"NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, PATUXENT RIVER, Md. — The past and future overlapped recently on a land-based test site at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, when the near-silent armature of the U.S. Navy’s new Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) propelled an F/A-18C Hornet.

EMALS — the newest carrier catapult technology in 60 years — completed the second and final phase of aircraft compatibility testing (ACT) this spring with the first-ever launches of the legacy Hornet, that marked the 35th anniversary of its inaugural flight last year....

...“The successful manned-aircraft test launches replicated various carrier situations to demonstrate that the catapult would provide the required aircraft end-speed and to validate EMALS launch-critical reliability,” said George Sulich, EMALS integrated test team lead.

The first phase of ACT successfully ended in fall 2011 with 134 manned aircraft launches, comprising the F/A-18E Super Hornet, T-45C Goshawk, C-2A Greyhound, E-2D Advanced Hawkeye and F-35C Lightning II.

ACT phase two, which concluded April 6, included launches of the EA-18G Growler and F/A-18C Hornet, and another round of launches with the current carrier-deployed aircraft that completed ACT phase one.

The program office concluded ACT with 452 manned launches and, for the last several months, has been busy delivering the final components of the system to CVN 78...."

Source: http://www.navair.navy.mil/index.cfm?fu ... ry&id=5668


User avatar
Elite 5K
Elite 5K
 
Posts: 28404
Joined: 05 May 2009, 21:31
Location: Australia

by spazsinbad » 03 Jul 2014, 08:46

On Page 4 of this thread: viewtopic.php?f=22&t=14115&p=233955&hilit=DCAP#p233955

Is the DCAP story - here is another video that perhaps explains it simply?

MIT researchers aim to improve aircraft carrier efficiency
Aug 16, 2011

"The DCAP system helps humans and computers work together to improve military operations."



User avatar
Elite 5K
Elite 5K
 
Posts: 28404
Joined: 05 May 2009, 21:31
Location: Australia

by spazsinbad » 04 Jul 2014, 09:15

MAGIC CARPET is mentioned a few times in this thread (fewer in some others) so I thought to park it here. The MIDDLE bit has been left out (because I'm not able to copy/paste ALL of any article) so best read it at source. This middle bit is a bit muddled in my view but may sail over the heads of others. YMMV. I'll gladly explain my misgivings but there you go - mods rool man.
Flight-Control Advances Promise Big Savings
New U.S./U.K.-developed flight-control technology might make carrier landings easier
A version of this article appears in the June 30 edition of Aviation Week & Space Technology.
03 Jul 2014 Bill Sweetman | Aviation Week & Space Technology


"New flight-control and guidance technology developed by the U.S. Navy and British researchers has been shown to allow carrier fighter pilots to land more accurately and consistently, and will be applied to both the Boeing Super Hornet/Growler and the Lockheed Martin F‑35C Joint Strike Fighter.

Developers of the technology predict it will reduce the number of training landings needed to qualify pilots for carrier operations and reduce fatigue on airframes.

Magic Carpet could sharply reduce the number of FLCPs needed to keep pilots qualified for carrier ops.

In the case of the F-35C, the new system—known as Maritime Augmented Guidance with Integrated Controls for Carrier Approach and Recovery Precision Enabling Technologies, or Magic Carpet — was shown in simulator tests to reduce pilot workload from borderline-acceptable levels to “minimal,” and it will be installed for the fighter’s long-delayed carrier trials later this year. Magic Carpet has been installed and tested without any hardware changes....

...Both the basic F/A-18E/F and F-35C flight-control systems had provision for direct lift control, but the innovation in Magic Carpet is to add the Delta Path mode. In simulator tests at BAE Systems’ Warton, England, site, the workload for an F-35C carrier landing was reduced from a Cooper-Harper handling qualities rating of 6 (extensive pilot workload), to 2 (minimal pilot workload), according to a Navy document.

A second element of Magic Carpet will help pilots fly through the “burble” of turbulent air behind a moving carrier. The inertial reference system and attitude sensors can be used to provide micro-corrections before the pilot can react—responding to a 0.1g departure in as little as 0.4 sec.

Magic Carpet originated at the U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center’s aircraft division (Nawcad) at the Patuxent River, Maryland, flight-test center. Team leader James Denham, a senior engineer at Nawcad, tells Aviation Week that the idea stemmed from tests of the Qinetiq-modified Vectored-thrust Aircraft Advanced Control (VAAC) Harrier aboard the U.K.’s aircraft carrier Illustrious, aimed at developing a shipboard rolling vertical landing mode for the F-35B.

Denham proposed a system that would give other aircraft the same rate-command flight-control capability demonstrated on the VAAC Harrier, and obtained some “seed money” from the Office of Naval Research to conduct some simulation research. The results justified follow-on funds from ONR to develop control laws for the Super Hornet, leading to flight tests in 2012....

...Boeing is under contract to build Magic Carpet functions into the Super Hornet/Growler operational flight program (OFP) with the goal of making it available to the fleet in 2018. The first phase is to build a fully certifiable OFP modification, which will start tests at Patuxent River in the fall of 2014 and undergo sea trials in early 2015. That is to be followed by a second phase that adds the “anti-burble” stabilization mode head-up display symbology and integrates the air data and inertial systems more fully."

Source: http://aviationweek.com/defense/flight- ... ig-savings


User avatar
Elite 5K
Elite 5K
 
Posts: 28404
Joined: 05 May 2009, 21:31
Location: Australia

by spazsinbad » 19 Nov 2014, 02:39

An OLD description of JPALS - worthwhile however - predictions in text for deployment will not be correct now (see above).
SHIP SUITABILITY PRECISION APPROACH AND LANDING SYSTEM (PALS)
[VX-23 Strike Test News 2010] Lt Daniel “Butters” Radocaj

"...JOINT PRECISION APPROACH AND LANDING SYSTEM (JPALS)
Joint Precision Approach and Landing System (JPALS) is a GPS based system that will be the replacement for the current ACLS/SPN-46 system. Unlike the SPN-46 that uses radar on the boat to track an aircraft, JPALS works by comparing the GPS position of the carrier and the GPS position of the aircraft. A relative navigation (Rel Nav) solution is calculated and displayed as guidance in the cockpit. Initial tests were conducted in 2000 with an F-18 to prove that the concept worked. JPALS should IOC in 2014 and will start to be retrofitted on Hornets. H-60’s and E-2D’s should start to see it in 2017. It will be the only approach guidance on NUCAS (Navy Unmanned Combat Air System) and the F-35. Every carrier will be equipped by 2024.

How is it better? It will be GPS based and is jam resistant. Instead of an operator in CATCC having to lock up an aircraft with the SPN-46 radar, only a data link between the ship and aircraft needs to be established making the system more reliable. This link will be established when the aircraft gets within 200 miles of the carrier, not at 5 miles behind the ship prior to tip over. The linked Rel Nav solution will also act like a TACAN and give ships position out to 200 miles. The link transmission, like MIDS, uses spread spectrum transmissions so it does not give away position and can be used during EMCON conditions. Mode I approaches will also be more accurate. The SPN-46 radar loses the aircraft at the round down. Past the round down glide slope guidance is basically an average of the last few seconds of the flight path. That is why during a Mode I the hornet freezes control input commands in the last 2 seconds before touchdown. The JPALS GPS guidance will be accurate all the way to touchdown. The Air Force and Army are funding a ground based JPALS system that can be easily setup at any airfield giving the Hornet an actual precision approach besides a PAR.

How will it affect me? With no need for interaction with an operator in CATCC, JPALS may be available during Case I approaches providing better gouge through the approach turn than the ICLS. Drop locks at 3 miles should not be a problem anymore; if you have JPALS in Marshall you’ll have it on final. The pickle switch on the platform will be connected to the data link and transmitted to the aircraft providing a true “W/O” discrete in the HUD and the ability to wave off a UAV. The ships final bearing will also be automatically linked to the aircraft and instantaneously updated in the cockpit, greatly enhancing SA to which direction the ship is turning while we are trying to land.

The mechanization and cockpit displays are still in the design phase. Do we want it to look just like ACLS or ICLS? Is it going to be called needles, bullseye, or _______? Should final bearing automatically be set as a course line? Is there a better way than the old way to do business? As fleet operators and LSO’s if you have any suggestions or ideas please let us know. In a few years JPALS will be a great tool to help us get the Air Wing aboard safely."

Source: http://www.navair.navy.mil/nawcad/index ... oad&id=824 (2.8Mb)


User avatar
Elite 5K
Elite 5K
 
Posts: 28404
Joined: 05 May 2009, 21:31
Location: Australia

by spazsinbad » 05 Jan 2015, 07:18

It is EMALS time with a twist (water wize?) but anyways....
Amid Criticism, US Navy Confident in New Arresting Gear System for Next Carrier
03 Jan 2015 Christopher P. Cavas

"WASHINGTON — A host of new technologies and systems will begin to enter service when the new aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) is delivered in the first half of 2016, and for over a decade it's been a good question whether all the new whiz-bang technology will be ready in time.....

[Then lots of lahdedahs]

...GAO also raised concerns about reliability of both the EMALS and AAG systems. But certifying system reliability, Tedford pointed out, can be difficult to prove before a system is installed.

"Reliability comes from a significant number of cycles on any system, it is statistics-based," Tedford said. "So you have to have hundreds of thousands of cycles in order to achieve system reliability. And the way that reliability growth is established is, it's not just from the system installed at Lakehurst, it's in combination with the ship and the second ship of class, and the third ship of class over time. So it was never in our program, as a requirement or anything else, in order to meet threshold reliability for either system when the ship delivered, simply because it is not possible to get there statistically."

The single EMALS catapult at Lakehurst, he pointed out, "is as close as we can get to the ship-based system on land, but it is not a four-catapult, identical system to what they have on CVN 78. Plus, realize that the testing that we do has been just that — it has been developmental testing. We are trying to find faults in the system. We are trying to find where it fails. That is the point. We are not intentionally doing reliability testing, which would be part of the envelope — repetitive, the same test point over and over and over again — to build reliability. That actually is in the next phase of the test program that kicks off later this year."

Tedford admits challenges remain, but he declared confidence.

"Both of these systems work," he said. "EMALS is on a great trajectory right now, and advanced arresting gear is on a similar vector.

"We are very excited," he added."

Twister of Water graphic: http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/7626b13 ... 010514.jpg

Source: http://www.defensenews.com/story/defens ... /21119327/
Attachments
635558131063641406-DFN-WEB-DFN-Advanced-Arresting-Gear-010514.jpg
635558131063641406-DFN-WEB-DFN-Advanced-Arresting-Gear-010514.jpg (48.57 KiB) Viewed 62036 times
Last edited by spazsinbad on 05 Jan 2015, 07:25, edited 1 time in total.


PreviousNext

Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 22 guests