Abaco Systems Wins Order to Support Upgrade of Fleet of Fighter Aircraft

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Abaco announced that it had received orders from a major prime contractor to support the upgrade of the computing capability of a European nation's fleet of 70 fighter aircraft. Two of Abaco's rugged 6U VME Power Architecture® single board computers (SBCs) will be at the heart of each multiprocessor onboard mission computer. Insertion of the new single board computers enables four boards to be replaced by two, creating valuable onboard space for additional functionality. Also supplied with each SBC was a graphics processor capable of delivering the specific resolution (780 x 780) of the cockpit multi-function display.

The order is valued at $4.5 million, and deliveries are scheduled to take place through 2022. 

The onboard computer leverages the real time capabilities of Wind River Systems' VxWorks® to store and process digital maps; process synthetic tactical information; control graphics and displays; and fuse data provided by the aircraft's sensors.

"The original onboard mission computer was designed over 15 years ago, and obsolescence was becoming a critical concern – as was the relative lack of compute capability, even though the system had seen a subsequent refresh," said John Muller, Chief Growth Officer at Abaco Systems. "We were able to provide a form, fit and function-compatible upgrade that delivered significantly more performance and that matched the current pin-out, meaning minimal integration and qualification effort for the customer. This order again demonstrates the strength of Abaco's commitment to our customers – that we will make available cost-effective upgrades as long as possible to maximize our customers' return on investment."

Abaco's technology insertion philosophy allows customers to seamlessly integrate new, higher performance hardware technologies while retaining form, fit and function and application software compatibility. With program lives often measured in decades, defense and aerospace users rely on consistent, intentional product development strategies such as those at Abaco to keep critical equipment performing longer with minimal interruption of service and with minimal cost.