Modular Electronics for Tilt Rotor UAV Payloads

The Tilt Rotor Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) is designed to accomplish several different maritime missions, including optical and infra-red imaging and surveillance, battle damage assessment, electronic signal surveillance, deceptive electronics countermeasures and over-the-horizon communications and data relay functions. These missions depend on diverse payload functions which require a wide range in the performance parameters of data rates, frequency coverage, receiver sensitivity and RF waveform and transmit power. Recent developments in design commonality offer the possibility of rapid reconfiguration of hardware for these diverse payloads through on-line module replacement or reprogramming, a highly desirable feature in the fleet. This paper discusses how modularity and integration of electronic functions in payloads and interfacing subsystems on the air vehicle can benefit the effectiveness of UAV systems.