The C-17 Global Air Traffic Management (GATM) Application

As airlines utilize Global Air Traffic Management (GATM) to acquire fuel and time efficient routes, so must military aircraft also incorporate this emerging commercial technology in order to fly these same cost-effective routes. This paper describes the integration of Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) Communication/Navigation equipment into the C-17 airframe, the methods used and the results achieved. Challenges met, such as source selection, bus architecture compatibility, logic integration with secure communications, environmental compatibility, is presented with their solutions.