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Show Page HILL TOP TIMES 10 November 17, 1978 and the OO-AL- C F-1- 6 (EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the fourth in a series of articles depicting the many organizations represented at Hill AFB that play significant roles in development, testing, acquisition and operation of the 6 by the U.S. and its four NATO partners, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway and Denmark.) F-1- 9?ss By Betty Jones 4 Major construction and renovation costing $441,774, and completed Nov. 3, provides housing in Bldg. 1211 for Ogden Air Logistics Center's unique 6 Avionics Integration Support Facility (AISF). It is located at the intersection of Gum and Florida Streets on the upper level in the West Area. F-1- The AISF will be utilized by the engineering support for F-1- System Manager operations, world-widF-1- 6 n 1 V K to provide avionics 1 e. 6 The immediate benefactors will be the USAF and the European Par- ticipating Governments, Belgium, The Netherlands, Norway and Denmark. Foreign military sales customers will also have the opportunity to benefit from this facility. Lt. Col. Ted Angle, AISF project manager, assumed management of the project in June, when his predecessor, Col. Henry Addor was assigned as the Ogden ALC commander's 6 F-1- projct officer. and multimode weapons delivery utilized and you have highly complex capabilities to achieve air superiority and multirole attack performance. These built-i- n capabilities gave rise to one of the primary contractor's 6 descriptive r; awesome slogans: "Scrappy all-weath- to r) Col. Gould Cllno, chief of the MM Engineering Division; Col. Alben Spiers, chief of fhe MM Acquisitions Division; and Brig. Gen. Cornelius vice commander, cuts the ribbon signifying completion of the Nugteren, Avlonlc Integration Support Facility (AISF). In the background are (I to r) Col. M. W. Moore, Hill AFB commander, and Lt. Col. Ted Angle, AISF project officer. (U.S. Air Force Photo by George Whetton) A OO-AL- F-1- Colonel Angle has high praise for the team effort displayed by the air-to-ai- appointed representatives of the many organizations involved in the construction program, especially their response to the challenge of working within a compressed time limitation. Early decision The decision early in the 6 development program to merge all hardware and software avionics engineering support requirements into a single building led to construction of the facility. The only portion of the usable 11,325 square feet of the renovated building that is unchanged is the footage supporting administrative offices on the west side. Dramatic change is evident throughout the rest of the building. F-1- Construction began last January and was funded by the Air Force Logistics Command. The facility is being equipped by the Air Force Systems Command at a cost of one-of-a-ki- nd more than twelve million dollars. Dome thi Big questions The complexity of these subsystems also gave rise to some big questions for the Air Force: t F-1- 6 Clear sk The HUD will be reviewed against a clear sky background. The Radar Electro Optical sensors will view a wide area of space. The radar will look at finite and infinite space and at targets silhouetted against a reflective background. errors? Evaluate performance in a simulated mission profile environment? (4) Validate or integrate new or modified Seated in the tower bay, an operator can enter data and communicate with the avionic system just as in an actual aircraft mini computer environment. The Alpha-1- 6 can drive a multiplex bus by simulating Inertial Navigation Unit (INU), Central Air Data Computer (CADC) and other interfaces allowing the avionics to communicate in an environment interpreted by the avionics "boxes" as actual flight. hardware into the system? to (5) Respond operational requirements? (6) Analyze flight test data? An AISF answered these needs. Still other questions were raised: JVC ill i Will the 6 System Manager at Ogden ALC have fully organic avionics engineering F-1- For that amount of money, you expect something special. You might even wonder if e the masonry structure has been 1930s-vintag- modified to fly. It has been almost. It will house the real-lif- e avionics systems and complementary computers and equipment to simulate actual operation. F-1- capability? And, at what cost? t Or, should the required avionics engineering support be provided by contractor? e By connecting the multiplex bus from the AEB and the Fire Control Computer Dynamic Systems Simulator (DSS) in the adjacent room, any desired flight profile can be simulated. k 6 cost effectiveness and other AISF considerations dictated that an Long-ter- Why the AISF??? in-hou- se is "smarter" than the average lightweight fighter. Revolutionary decreases in cost and size of computers happened at the right time to benefit development of the The digital avionics system utilizes seven computers efficiently installed to provide avionics previously attainable only on much larger aircraft. Simply because the m F-1- 6 F-1- 6. all-weath- er, multi-missio- n capability be developed at Ogden ALC. Cost effectiveness also was the determining factor in the decision to renovate an existing structure rather than to build a new one. The most noticeable feature of renovated Bldg. 1211 is an external, tower added at the north end of the building to support the AISF Avionics Equipment Bay (AEB), giving a pilot's of the horizon. In this 30 by bay at the top of the 6 an forward section will be tower, recreated and installed. This hot mock up will contain framework, racks, cables, controls, and exact avionics of the parent aircraft. post-constructi- 35-fo- ot eye-vie- w F-1- t t Fire Control Computer Radar Electro-OpticDisplay Head-U- p Display (HUD) Fire Control Radar Inertial Navigation Set Stores Management Set Central Air Data Computer Add to this language, modular software, programmable symbology high-ord- er F-1- Dia frntmiir cantor Inside the building, adjacent to the tower bay is a room dedicated to the DSS, a diagnostic center for the Fire Control Computer operational flight program (software). The DSS itself provides testing of the Fire Control Computer operational flight program testing that is very similar to flight tests but far less costly and with less risk than actual flight test. Accurate control The DSS allows a software engineer to ' accurately control and examine the environment of the Fire Control Computer. Software inaccuracies and anomalies whose causes are normally lost in the interactions of the aircraft environment can be isolated. Operation, of the avionics systems flight instruments and controls are available, as when a pilot is present. But all of the of the program can be selectively examined along with the internal workings of the Fire Control Computer. input-outp- scenarios are used, each computer "run" being exactly like the previous one. (Continued on page 26) In Aug. 1978, the first production F-1- 6 air combat fighter rolled off the assembly line at the General Dynamics plant in Ft. Worth, Texas. In Jan. Subsystems located within the tower's AEB are Radar, (HUD), Radar Electro-OpticaStores Management, Inertial Navigation and Fire Control Computer. An Alpha-1- 6 mini computer is included in to the bay partially simulate flight environments. The control stick, throttle, attitude display and horizontal situation Heads-Up-Displa- l, y ut In addition, unknown human variables can be removed, allowing several chances to identify correct parameters to be monitored to find a problem. For this purpose, "canned" another "first" 6 will roll off another in line assembly Belgium, followed shortly thereafter by yet another 6 produced in the. Netherlands. 1979, F-1- F-1- THESE THREE AIRCRAFT will mark the first time in aviation history that internati6nal coproduction of a common weapon system has been programmed from the beginning. This innovation allows the' 6 to be introduced almost front-lininto the forces of five North Atlantic simultaneously Treaty Organization allies: The U.S., Belgium, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands, F-1- al the The DSS can fly almost. Simulation of mission profiles 'will be so realistic that interim plans call for pilots transitioning into the 6 from other aircraft to use the DSS for familiarization during flight training until flight simulator trainers are available to them. on 40-fo- ot The seven computers, tied to a multiplex bus and managed by the Fire Control Computer (one of the seven), are, by name: 6 -- System Manager at (1) Recreate mission profiles? (2) Isolate and eliminate latent software (3) F-1- C all are there. indicators Live operation in the real world and in real time of the Radar, the HUD and the Radar Electro Optical systems will be utilized. How does the Air Force Logistics Command support this advanced and highly complex avionics system? How does the Ogden ALC: SNIP by (I THREE-WA- Y e For the four European countries, the coproduction arrangement represents the difference between being customers of the U.S. and partners in what some have called the arms deal nf thr rpntum X.V-.- |