The Aircraft/Store Common Interface Control Document Format

Military operations in the last two decades have shown deficiencies in weapons interoperability not only between the forces of different nations, but often, between the individual forces within a single nation. Due to the increased functionality and operational flexibility of modern weaponry (e.g. all-weather capability, multi mode, network centric operation, etc.), the integration of new weapons and modern aircraft is more complex, takes longer, and is more expensive. This during a period when national defense budgets are being reduced. For several years, the desire of having plug and play aircraft/weapons, comparable to the plug and play concepts of modern commercial computer operating system software, has been under discussion. This paper discusses SAE AS5609 Aircraft/ Store Common Interface Control Document Format, regarded as an important stepping-stone towards the plug and play aircraft/weapons concept.