Honeywell is considering launching a civil ground-proximity warning system (GPWS) based on British Aerospace (Systems & Equipment's) (BASE) military Terprom product. If the teaming goes ahead, it would provide the first serious challenge to AlliedSignal's longstanding monopoly in the GPWS market.
An earlier attempt by Collins to launch a "ground-collision-avoidance system" came to a halt because the US company decided that the Dassault Electronique technology under consideration was insufficiently mature.
The Terprom is in widespread service with operators of Lockheed Martin F-16 fighters, including the US Air Force, as a low-level navigation, targeting and terrain-avoidance aid. Like AlliedSignal's recently certificated enhanced GPWS (EGPWS) system, its heart is a near-global terrain database, although the products differ substantially in detailed operation.
Honeywell confirms that it is in "preliminary discussion" with BASE, although the latter declines to comment. The US supplier has responded to at least one flag-carrier's solicitation using the Terprom as the basis of its proposal.
BASE officials began looking for ways in 1996 to migrate the Terprom to the civil market, as it became increasingly apparent that military customers saw its value in reducing peacetime aircraft losses as one of its most desirable features.
The challenge for Honeywell and BASE is to modify and certificate the system quickly enough to win business in an airline community which is rapidly committing itself to AlliedSignal's EGPWS.
Following the loss of the American Airlines Boeing 757 at Cali, Colombia, virtually all the US majors, and several international airlines, have indicated formally or informally that they will buy a system of this kind - with an EGPWS being the obvious choice of system.
Honeywell and BASE co-operate on some applications for the H-764G advanced military inertial-navigation system, offered with an optional Terprom card.
Source: Flight International
