Photo courtesy of United Aircraft Corp.
A division of United Aircraft Corp.’s (UAC) Sukhoi has begun flight tests of a new computing system for the T-50 (PAK-FA), UAC said. This new system would replace 2004’s “Baguette” system. It contains integrated modular avionics combat systems (IMA BC), which have been developing over the last four years.
“The new system is really innovative and has no analogues,” said Dmitry Gribov, chief designer at Sukhoi. “Multicore gives us almost unlimited possibilities for the design of fault-tolerant configurations, while saving on weight, power consumption and cost of the equipment.”
Aircraft systems control functions are assigned to a central computer. That computer can simultaneously perform pilot and navigation — and even flight engineer — actions, UAC said. It can solve problems in real time, including automatic target detection and identification, optimal route construction and system reconfiguration in case of failure.
Data is carried through fiber-optic channels, which allows for increased speed and volume of data transmission as opposed to copper. UAC said fiber can operate at 8 gbps.