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Pilatus Aircraft Ltd. has tapped Esterline Avionics Systems to supply cockpit avionics for the French Air Force’s PC-21s, Esterline said at the Paris Air Show. The company has also received a contract for the provision of additional shipsets for the Royal Jordanian Air Force’s fleet of PC-21s.
Esterline is set to supply the cockpit displays and the CMC Electronics dual flight management systems, GPS landing system sensors and head-up display (HUD) sub-system.
“Esterline has collaborated with Pilatus on a number of PC-21 programs to date, providing a wide range of advanced avionics,” said Michel Potvin, president of Esterline Avionics Systems. “We are absolutely delighted that Pilatus continues to rely on Esterline Avionics Systems and look forward to supporting Pilatus and the PC-21 trainer for the French Air Force.”
The active-matrix LCD displays are comprised of four cockpit head-down displays and two smart multi-function displays. These are in both the front and rear cockpit and can function as primary flight and navigation displays. The featured open and modular MOSArt software suite is ARINC-653-compliant. This allows for integration of any applications or human machine interface definitions. The HUD subsystem includes the CMC Electronics SparrowHawk HUD. This is a compact unit that can display raster video and stroke symbology, Esterline said. The flight management system used for the PC-21 is a variant of the latest-generation CMC Electronics CMA-9000.
The GPS landing system sensor meets the requirements for an IFR, civil-certified global navigation satellite system. It provides wide area augmentation system satellite-based augmentation system GPS capability from departure to approach. Esterline said the CMA-5024 is provision for growth to ground-based augmentation system with a built-in very high frequency data broadcast receiver.