Multinational cooperation produces test system for European flight line

Abstract

In January 1995 the German Air Force declared Initial Operational Capability (IOC) of their upgraded F-4s with AMRAAM capability. Prior to declaring IOC a Raytheon team traveled to Germany with a Programmable Advanced Systems Interface Simulator (PASIS(R)) unit to test the newly implemented AMRAAM interface on the inventory of German aircraft. As a result of the thoroughness demonstrated during this testing the German government became interested in procuring several PASIS(R) systems for flight line use. Although PASIS(R) was a proven engineering tool, the German government's flight line application required that it be redesigned and environmentally qualified to European standards. Consequently a partnership was established between Raytheon and STN ATLAS Elektronik which capitalized on Raytheon's weapon system and interface knowledge and STN ATLAS' experience designing and producing test equipment qualified to European standards. Also as a German defense contractor STN ATLAS was able to satisfy a requirement for in-country support and to provide the optimal customer interface. This resulted in the successful and production of the environmentally qualified European Standard PASIS, or ES PASIS, and is an example of how test equipment projects provide beneficial teaming opportunities.