Curtiss-Wright has introduced two new flight recorders that feature next-generation capabilities for modern aircraft.

A new generation of cockpit voice recorders is emerging on the market, thanks to advances in digital technology in combination with regulatory mandates.

The use of a modular open systems approach (MOSA) will benefit the effort to integrate alternative position, navigation, and timing (PNT) technologies into platforms.

From a design and engineering perspective, there are many moving parts to consider and combine in order to arrive at a position, navigation, and timing (PNT) truth. In addition, solutions must be easy to integrate into the available space on existing platforms, whether they are unmanned aerial systems (UASs) or other aircraft, ground-based operations, or systems at sea.

Honeywell and Curtiss-Wright are making fast progress in bringing ‘black box in the sky’ functionality to their nextgen flight recorders.

In order to keep up with the continued acceleration of new technology and to be able to protect the warfighter from the latest threats, it is essential that we can turn our deployed platforms into adaptable entities that can evolve over time and are not static. The SOSA [Sensor Open Systems Architecture] Technical Standard is the next major step in realizing this goal.

Rugged data storage systems for aerospace and defense applications are moving to new data interfaces for unparalleled speed and capacity, while trusted computing and information security are driving trends.

A panel on CMOSS at a U.S. Army Technical Exchange Meeting held earlier this year provided details on new developments underway and areas in which the Army is looking to industry for help in taking the suite of standards from prototype to deployment.