Collins Aerospace is bringing its Flight2 avionics architecture to the Portuguese Air Force’s fleet of C-130 Hercules aircraft.
The Portuguese Air Force is upgrading its C-130 Hercules fleet with new cockpit displays, flight management systems and an open systems embedded avionics architecture.
Under a new contract issued to Collins Aerospace by OGMA – Industria Aeronautica de Portugal — the C-130s will be upgraded to the Flight2 mission mobility application system. The Flight2 upgrades have been added to more than 190 in-service C-130s globally, integrating new displays and avionics with existing analog and digital sensors, radios and autopilots.
“We’ve packaged our kits into four basic packages and it allows the user to specify the level of complexity they want for their specific mission. For example, a country that does airdrops would have certain requirements that someone who doesn’t do airdrops wouldn’t need,” Dave Schreck, vice president, of the military avionics division at Collins Aerospace told Avionics International in an emailed statement.
A computed air release point precision air drop software package is also part of the new avionics upgrades being provided to the Portuguese Air Force.
Schreck said the Flight2 upgrades will also bring the Portuguese C-130 fleet into compliance with existing and upcoming airspace mandates, such as the European and U.S. airspace 2020 ADS-B Out equipage requirements. The Flight2 mission mobility system, which uses a configurable software file to enable specific military operations, is also adaptable to the different mission sets operated by the Portuguese Air Force.
“The Portuguese Air Force uses C-130s for a broad range of missions, including personnel and cargo transport, and even firefighting,” Schreck said.
Portuguese Air Force pilots will also be able to use the new upgrades for 8.33 kHz radio and satellite voice controller to pilot data link communications as well. Collins estimates a 20 to 25 month timeline for Flight2 upgrade installation, integration and testing, although the company was not able to confirm when the upgrades would be complete for Portugal.