Rotorcraft Avionics Designs for Tomorrows Capabilities

The military spends enormous resources on emerging technologies which are required to stay relevant and current after fielding. Technology is not the only driving factor for spending; the evolution of combatant techniques also requires the adaptation of resources and strategies to maintain the advantage in favor of the war fighter. In our recent past, the consistency of the enemy allowed our military forces to field technologies and establish processes usable for decades. Today's enemy rapidly changes tactics and adopts any available technologies in new and various ways. With the escalating rate of change and the high cost for material and labor, we are forced to keep reuse, rapid integration, and scalability as core values for rapid implementation and deployment. The Joint Multi Role, Joint Common Architecture programs along with the Future Airborne Capability Environment open group were all created to address this complex role for the future of rotorcraft. This paper will discuss the results from the past seven years of the Army Aviation Applied Technology Directorate and Boeing Manned/Unmanned Common Architecture Program, Phase II demonstrations, the most recent configuration that was demonstrated in the fall of 2011, and will close with the framework that will be necessary to carry rotorcraft and other platforms into the future. The Manned/Unmanned Common Architecture Program has served as an early prototype for the Joint Common Architecture program and Future Airborne Capability Environment open group and demonstrated the tenants of these initiatives. The underlying standards and methods used on the Manned/Unmanned Common Architecture Program are discussed and presented to show a path forward for both future and legacy platforms.