A new datalink system in development to enhance the connectivity of the UK Royal Air Force's BAE Systems Harrier GR9 and Panavia Tornado GR4 strike aircraft will enter environmental qualification testing within weeks, ahead of its expected entry into service within about two years.
The Tactical Information Exchange Capability will provide fighter crews with fused data acquired using an onboard Link 16 datalink and an integrated data modem, boosting their network-centric credentials and enabling them to communicate with attack helicopters and ground forces.
"The pilot will see what an E-3 [airborne warning and control system aircraft] can see, out to several hundred miles," and reduce reliance on error-prone voice communications during close air support missions, says Geoff Linsley, BAE's assessment phase programme manager for the effort.
Recently placed under contract after a programme delay of more than two years, the TIEC modifications will be part of combined upgrades to the Harrier and Tornado airframes worth almost £300 million ($590 million), and will support operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Situational awareness data will be shown using existing cockpit displays, with the two aircraft types to share an "aligned architecture".
Prime contractor BAE declines to reveal delivery schedules for the new equipment, but says the GR9 will be the first to field the enhancements, possibly in an interim configuration. Development activities will run for the next two to three years, with potential additional elements including research into providing a high-bandwidth video relay capability, it says.
"The team has done a lot of risk-reduction over the last year or so. We're confident we will hit those targets, or accelerate even," says Martin Parker, BAE's director Tornado capability.
The TIEC project also involves lead subsystem supplier General Dynamics UK, BAE's avionics business at Rochester, Kent, its Aerosystems International subsidiary, and Rockwell Collins.
Source: Flight International
