We hope you enjoy this month's issue of Test Connections which includes new product updates and news events.
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Bridging the Armament Test Gap | | | | Test Deficiencies on 4th and 5th Generation Aircraft.
The U.S. Air Force (USAF) took delivery of its first F-15A in November 1974, nearly 40 years ago. Soon after the A-10A and the F-16A, followed years later by the F-15E, joined Tactical Air Command’s (TAC) fleet of war fighters and rounded out the current 4th generation fighter aircraft. The advanced Smart armament and munitions employed on today’s fighter aircraft, combined with obsolete or inadequate O-level test equipment deployed on the flightline, has created an armament test gap for maintaining armament and munitions. |  |
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Modernizing USAF A-10/C Flightline Test Sets with
a PXI-Based Ultra-Rugged Platform | | | | | The A-10/C Thunderbolt II, also known as "Warthog," is the premier attack aircraft used by the United States Air Force for close air support. In 2008, the A-10/A aircraft received upgraded digital avionics and precision weapons capabilities, and was given the new designation "A-10/C." With the new modern avionics suite, the A-10/C needed advanced flightline test functionality with troubleshooting capabilities. The A-10 Systems Program Office (SPO) turned to the 309th Software Maintenance Group (SMXG) at Hill Air Force Base to develop a solution that would meet the aircraft’s flightline test requirements. Using Marvin Test Solutions’ MTS-207 PXI platform, Hill AFB developed the Portable Automated Test Set (PATS)-70 for supporting the A-10/C’s avionics test needs. |  |
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ATEasy 9.0 Preview | | | | | Get a jump start on test with ATEasy 9. ATEasy's new hardware and software simulation capability enables test engineers to perform test functions with partial or no hardware. Similar to previous versions, ATEasy retains compatibility with previous versions - allowing users to preserve their investment in existing test programs and applications. ATEasy serves both as a COTS stand-alone product as well as a key building block for MTS’s vertically-integrated solutions for aerospace test and measurement applications. Since its introduction in 1991, virtually all of MTS’ test solutions have incorporated ATEasy - providing a proven and supportable test platform for thousands of functional test applications among worldwide customers. |  |
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Newsworthy Happenings at Marvin Test Solutions | | | | - Congratulations Dan Kageff from Yazaki North America for winning the first iPad giveway
- Marvin Test Solutions has recently updated several software packages
- Marvin Test Solutions signs distributorship with Aero Precision
- See us at upcoming industry conferences and trade events
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Marvin Test Solutions was named as a finalist in two Best-in-Test Award categories from EDN.  To vote for these and other nominated products, click here. Read on
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Bridging the Armament Test Gap
Bridging the Armament Test Gap |
| With the deployment of sophisticated armament on 4th generation aircraft, the USAF deployed new generation of test equipment at the flightline, supporting organizational-level (O-Level) maintenance. One of the new pieces of test equipment the USAF issued maintainers was a small, hand-held armament tester called the Armament Circuits Pre-Load Test Set (ACPTS). The ACPTS was round, cylindrical, and resembled a beer can, quickly earning the nickname "beercan" among maintainers. The ACPTS was designed to perform stray voltage tests and provide basic voltage measurements in support of armament loaded on the aircraft. The F-16 ACPTS was a very simple device with a single measurement channel while the F-15 ACPTS (Figure 1), was a more robust product possessing two measurement channels. Both of these pieces of test equipment had to be combined with large box test sets, such as the 75501 for the F-16, making the flightline near the F-16 cluttered and complicated.) |
Figure 1: Legacy F-15 and F-16 O-Level Armament Test Sets
The Armament Test Gap
The advanced Smart armament and munitions employed today, combined with obsolete or inadequate test equipment deployed on the flightline, has created an armament test gap because of the inability of today’s O-Level test equipment to provide the necessary tools to test and maintain armament and munitions. The armament test gap represents major maintenance and readiness issues for maintainers and operators alike due to the necessity of having to implement of a multitude of workarounds on the flightline. The U. S. Navy and U. S. Marine Corps experience the same armament test gap on their aircraft and resultant inefficiencies.
Bridging the Gap
Having identified the armament test gap in legacy 4th and 5th generation aircraft several years ago, Marvin Test Solutions developed, qualified, and successfully deployed the MTS-3060 SmartCan™ universal O-level tester across legacy aircraft and is planning to do the same for 5th generation aircraft. Despite maintaining the small footprint of a ACPTS, the MTS-3060 SmartCan™ bridges the armament test gap by combining all of the capabilities of the ACPTS and the 75501 tester in the case of the F-16, and provides maintainers with the necessary tools to adequately test and troubleshoot today’s aircraft loaded with legacy and smart weapons. Additionally, the Marvin Test Solutions SmartCan™ provides maintainers and operators the ability to confirm that their armament is fully mission-ready.
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The MTS-3060 SmartCan™ was initially deployed in 2011 and is already deployed on multiple legacy platforms flown and maintained by various foreign and domestic customers. In fact, the MTS-3060 SmartCan™ is capable of supporting all 4th and 5th generation fighters, bombers, and Unmanned Aerial Systems equipped with armament and munitions. The hand-held, AA battery-operated MTS-3060 SmartCan™ flightline tester weighs less than 3 lb. Despite its compact size, it packs the capability to conduct full pre- and post-load operation as well as pre- and post-flight troubleshooting tests on legacy systems such as AIM-9 and AGM-65. It also supports “smart” munitions including JDAM, SDB I and II, and AMRAAM that incorporate MIL-STD-1553 and 1760 interfaces. |
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To read more about how the MTS-3060 SmartCan is bridging the armament test gap for 4th and 5th generation aircraft,
download our white paper.
MTS-3060 SmartCan Video
Marvin Test Solutions has recently completed a short video which shows the MTS-3060 in action. To view the video, click here.
For further information about the MTS-3060 click here.
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Modernizing USAF A-10/C Flightline Test Sets with a PXI-Based Ultra-Rugged Platform
In 2008, the A-10/A aircraft received upgraded digital avionics and precision weapons capabilities, and was given the new designation "A-10/C." With the new modern avionics suite, the A-10/C needed advanced flight-line test functionality with troubleshooting capabilities. However, the A-10/C’s flightline test equipment, the PATS-30, was not updated, requiring flightline maintenance personnel to employ multiple test sets to maintain the latest A-10/C model. Faced with the PATS-30’s obsolescence, the A-10 Systems Program Office (SPO) needed a modern replacement, designated as the PATS-70. Consequently, the A-10 SPO turned to the 309th Software Maintenance Group (SMXG) at Hill Air Force Base to develop a solution that would meet the aircraft’s requirements. The requirements of the SPO were to develop a test set that would provide enhanced flightline test capabilities and be able to test and troubleshoot the A-10/C avionics suite.
Choosing an Appropriate COTS Platform
Many military flightline test sets are designed from the ground up as unique "Mil-Spec" systems in order to meet the harsh environmental specifications. This approach delivers test sets that are ultra-rugged and suitable for flightline use. However, this approach is also costly, has a very long development-to-deployment cycle, and by the time it is deployed, is often based on old technology.
Basing the design on ready-made technology is therefore very attractive to the developer, the customer, and the end-user. However, COTS products also have their own challenges. Available platforms for small-footprint applications suitable for flightline use are very limited. Box instruments such as GPIB or LXI are too large and cannot be considered, which limits the selection to card-modular platforms such as PCI, PXI, and VXI. While PCI is a high-performance platform, it cannot be effectively used in rugged environments. VXI can be enhanced and ruggedized to support flightline use. However, its large form factor is less suitable for flightline applications. For this reason, the 309th SMXG selected PXI as the PATS-70 platform. PXI (PCI eXtesions for Instrumentation) is an established platform that provides a rugged industrial solution with a small footprint and a wide variety of cost-effective product offerings. With additional product improvements, PXI can become an ultra-rugged platform similar to those provided by Mil-Spec designs while remaining compact in size.
Increasing the Platform’s Environmental Ruggedness
Most COTS products are rated for operation between 0 ºC and 50 ºC and are designed for use in a benign environment. The typical COTS products operate in controlled laboratory or industrial environments and are not subject to high humidity or extreme shock and vibration. Furthermore, typical COTS products are not required to meet strict electromagnetic interference (EMI) requirements that include both conducted and radiated interference specifications.
PXI COTS products therefore need to be further ruggedized before they could be used in the flightline environment. The process of "ruggedization" is needed for both the chassis and instruments and includes the following:
- Temperature Ruggedization
Flightline use requires a wide operating and storage temperature range. Most flightline test applications require operating at temperatures as low as -30 °C and as high as 60 °C. With PXI standard operating temperature range being 0 ºC to 50 ºC, the platform needs to provide an increased level of protection. Heaters and control circuitry incorporated into the chassis provide the necessary support for sub-zero operation and ensure that the COTS products are not exposed to temperatures below 0 ºC. The high-temperature requirement is more challenging as the internal temperature will typically be 10 ºC to 15 ºC higher than ambient. In order to operate the PXI cards at temperatures under 50 ºC, the chassis must incorporate an air conditioner or a heat exchanger - both solutions are large and heavy and not suitable for flightline operation. The solution for this challenge is a process called "uprating," which includes the screening of the COTS products and in some cases, replacing components to further improve thermal performance.
- Shock, Vibration, and Environmental Ruggedization
To support the shock and vibration requirements, the chassis needs to incorporate shock absorbers. Additionally, Room Temperature Vulcanizing Silicone (RTVS) needs to be used for the potting of connectors which can also be used to secure some components on the COTS boards. RTVS is important for providing protection against shock and vibration, and it is also crucial for operation in high-humidity conditions.
Conformal coating is also needed to protect the exposed COTS boards. The use of RTVS, combined with conformal coating of the COTS boards provides the necessary protection against humidity, water, and salt fog.
Meeting the Technical Performance Requirements
The test requirements of the A-10/C include testing of avionics systems and subsystems such as the Anti-Skid, Alpha-Mach, fuel-quantity, and stability augmentation systems. Further, the PATS-70 is required to provide uploading of Operational Flight Program (OFP) to the various line-replaceable units (LRUs) and download data from the avionics subsystems. These requirements necessitate the use of high-performance instrumentation including:- MIL-STD-1553 Interface: to communicate with MIL-STD-1553 and MIL-STD-1760 systems and subsystems and to allow OFP uploading and data downloading
- IEEE-1394 Firewire, RS-485, and USB interfaces: to support communications with multiple LRUs and subsystems
- Digital Multimeter (DMM): to measure precision voltage (AC & DC), resistance, and timing parameters
- Digitizer: to perform measurement and analysis of waveforms
- Arbitrary Waveform Generator: to provide stimuli such as waveforms and pulse trains
- Switch Matrix: to connect the above instruments to multiple test points using a very high-density switch matrix with over 1000 cross points
- High-Power Switching: to switch power supplies and loads using a high-current, high-density switching card
Two maintainers are needed to operate the PATS-70: one maintainer sits in the cockpit running the test via the aircraft Multi-Function Displays (MFDs) and the other remains on the ground managing the PATS-70 and interconnecting cables. The PATS-70 had to provide the maintainer in the cockpit with a portable control device. The 309th SMXG evaluated portable touch screens, ruggedized laptops, and ruggedized tablet before selecting the tablet with that met their requirement.
A removable solid state disk (SSD) was chosen as the removable storage media to support the classified storage requirements. The SSD contains all the PATS-70 software including the Windows 7 operating system and the test procedures. The 309th SMXG required special menu-driven forms to simplify operation and provide the user with easy-to-use prompts and built-in technical information.
Completing the Test Set in Record Time
To ensure program success in the shortest possible time, the 309th SMXG based the PATS-70 system on the established, field-proven, MTS-207, an ultra-rugged, portable PXI-based field and flightline test set that is well-suited for maintenance of aircraft avionics, missile systems, and armament. The 309th SMXG chose this technology as the only readily available, qualified, customizable Mil-Spec COTS test platform with the ruggedness, technical performance, and small footprint that met the PATS-70 requirements while substantially reducing program risk.
Figure 2. The USAF shortened development time by building the PATS-70 on the MTS-207 Mil-Spec, commercial-off-the-shelf platform.
To further reduce qualification-related program risk, Marvin Test Solutions assisted the Air Force with the ruggedization, testing, and qualifying of all instrumentation that the 309th SMXG selected for the PATS-70. The ability to customize solutions provided the Air Force with the assurance that the PATS-70 would operate flawlessly during and after the qualification test. By using COTS products and relying on Marvin Test Solutions’ domain expertise, the USAF’s 309th SMXG test professionals were able to streamline many aspects of the project that would otherwise have been more challenging.
Figure 3. Marvin Test Solutions assisted the 309th SMXG with the design of the final PATS-70, which included many custom subsystems and components, to quickly meet the flightline avionic maintenance requirements of the A-10/C.
The PATS-70 test set allows the A-10/C maintenance community to fully test the aircraft’s avionics with modern equipment, minimizing logistics and simplifying operations. The PATS-70 packs a high-performance flightline test set into a portable, ultra-rugged system. By using a Mil-Spec, COTS platform based on PXI instruments, the 309th SMXG was able to develop and qualify the system in record time while saving money compared to the initial budget estimates. With its modular architecture, the PATS-70 can easily be enhanced in the future to support additional USAF requirements including A-10/C armament and weapons.
Click here to read more about the MTS-207
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Marvin Test Solutions Introduces New Products
ATEasy 9.0 Preview
With the latest release, ATEasy continues to offer the most feature-rich and cost-effective software platform for test and measurement applications. With ATEasy 9.0, users can: - Take advantage of comprehensive hardware and software simulation capability, which allows users to develop, run, debug, and analyze applications on their desktop with partial or no hardware. Users can also simulate any existing driver, system, program, or UUT response with no source code changes required in order to support simulation. The result is a simulation capability that the most complete and comprehensive within the industry.
- Use ATEasy 9.0 development environment and run-time with a previous ATEasy version simultaneously, simplifying the version upgrade process and test program migration.
- Integrate various third-party source and version control tools, such as Microsoft Team Foundation Server and Source Safe, Subversion, Git, CVS, and others.
- Benefit from new test development features, including Unicode support, Find All and Replace All improvements, support for multiple object selection and operations, path variables, automatic variable type and name prefix, enable/disable breakpoints, Shmoo plots, and more.
To learn more about ATEasy 9.0's features and capabilities, see http://www.marvintest.com/Product.aspx?Model=ATEasy&Tab=What+is+New?
ATEasy 9.0 version will be available for shipment to current users with software support agreements in early January 2014.
Contact our sales department if you would be interested in renewing your software support agreement. |
Winner of the iPad for Your Thoughts Giveaway
 | Marvin Test Solutions is giving away 4 iPads. One winner will be announced every 3 months.
To enter this giveaway send us your thoughts. Tell us about your experience with our organization in a quick 5 question survey from a M@GIC inquiry or new order.
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Recently Updated Software
Marvin Test Solutions has recently released the following software:- ATEasy 9.0 Prelease
This is the Beta release for ATEasy 9.0 and is available for download and evaluation.
- GxAo, Version 1.3.2
The GxAo driver supports that GX1642, GX1648 and GX1649 analog output PXI boards.
- HW, Version 4.7.1
Updated version of the hardware access driver, compatible with Windows 9x – Windows 8 (32/64 bit).
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Channel Partners
Marvin Test Solutions Signs Distributorship with Aero Precision Marvin Test Solutions has announced a new worldwide partnership agreement with Aero Precision, a Greenwich AeroGroup company for marketing, distribution and re-sale of military test systems.
Stan King, OEM Market Analyst at Aero Precision, stated "Marvin Test Solutions’ military test systems cover a wide range of test environments including flightline (O-Level), backshop (I-Level), and depot (D-Level). Aero Precision’s worldwide presence will provide sales and marketing services for these test solutions that are used by international militaries."
Upcoming Events
Marvin Test Solutions will be exhibiting at the following events:
WEPTAC USAF, January 15th – 16th, 2014
Nellis AFB, NVThe Marvin Group Booth 39 and 40Annually, ACC/A3TW conducts a Combat Air Force (CAF) Weapons and Tactics Conference. The 2014 conference will be held at Nellis AFB, Nevada. Marvin Engineering and Marvin Test Solutions will exhibit Alternate Mission Equipment and Test Support Equipment at The Marvin Group booth.
Singapore Airshow, February 11th – 16th, 2014
Singapore
Aero Precision Booth #T68 Singapore Airshow is Asia's largest and one of the most important aerospace and defence exhibitions in the world. This is a truly global exhibition where the latest state-of-the-art systems and equipment, together with their related technologies and developments, are displayed by top aerospace companies.
Marvin Test Solutions’ military test systems will be represented by Aero Precision at booth #T68.
AUSA Winter, February 19th – 21th, 2014
Huntsville, AL
The Marvin Group Booth 802For the first time in history, the AUSA Winter Symposium and Exposition will be held in Huntsville, Alabama at the Von Braun Center. The Association of the United States Army’s Institute of Land Warfare (AUSA ILW) will produce an unclassified Winter symposium for members of industry and the military. The three-day event will include featured presentations from the United States Army Materiel Command, the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command, and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics and Technology).
Marvin Test Solutions will be exhibiting test and support equipment along with other business units of The Marvin Group.
OLR F-16 Symposium, March 17th – 20th, 2014
Orlando, FLMr. Michael Frey, Senior Business Development Manager, and Steve Sargeant, CEO will attend the F-16 Symposium in Orlando, Florida from March 17th - 20th. Email
michaelf@marvintest.com for more information about this event.
FIDAE, March 25th – 30th, 2014
Santiago, Chile
Visit the Aero Precision Booth #C14The International Air & Space Fair, FIDAE, is the main aerospace and defence exhibition of Latin America. With more than thirty-five years of existence, it gathers the world's representatives of civil-commercial aviation, defence, aircraft maintenance, airport equipment & services, homeland security and space technology.
In The News
Over the past few months, Marvin Test Solutions has been featured in several publications:
- "Marvin Test Solutions Bullish on Defense", Avionics, Sep 2013
- "Marvin Test Solutions Arrives in France", Air and Cosmos, Sept 2013
- "Test Solutions Must Adapt to Future Aeronautical Systems", Mesures, Oct 2013
Since 1991, the Best in Test Awards have recognized the best in test products and test professionals. Finalists are selected by the editors of EDN and then the EDN audience is asked to vote online to determine the final winners. Winners will be announced during the Best in Test 2014 Awards Ceremony January 29, 2014 - held in conjunction with DesignCon in Santa Clara, CA.
This year, Marvin Test Solutions has two finalist nominations:
- Software category: ATEasy 9.0
- Test support category: MTS-916-3, Target Simulator
To vote for these and other nominated products,
click here.