Avionics News July 2023 - 54

L3HARRIS' SKY WARDEN
Continued from page 53
looking like the Air Tractor AT-802U. It can go anywhere
and do anything. It's FAA certified on floats and skis.
It's very forgiving, and when you look at the safety
record, it's super rugged and incredibly survivable. "
According to Air Tractor, the AT-802 series is the
largest (wingspan and load-carrying capability) singleengine
turboprop aircraft in the world. And that size
would come in handy when it came to transforming a
humble Air Tractor into an air wolf in sheep's clothing.
It takes more than a uniform
to make a soldier
" Another great thing about the Air Tractor is the
OEM makes it very, very basic, which means you can
do any modifications on it without having to remove a
lot of components from the airframe, " Savoie said. " For
example, we created an FAA STC to strengthen the wings.
It can handle up to 6,000 pounds of external load. "
Overall, the Air Tractor was the perfect fit for the
mission profile: it's rugged, turbine-powered, is FAA
certified to operate on wheels, floats, and skis, and can
be easily disassembled and reassembled in the field.
" It gives us the option of flying it to customers or
putting it in a box and load it on a cargo aircraft and fly
it to any location in the world, " he added. " That's what
multirole means in today's military. "
While the Air Tractor ticked all the boxes when it
came to the final selection of the AT-802U platform for
Sky Warden, Savoie also called on his own experiences
as a pilot with the Air Force's Special Operations
Command, where he served as an AC-130U gunship
aircraft commander and as an instructor/pilot on UA28As
(Pilatus PC-12).
During his military career, Savoie served in many
combat deployments in the global war on terror and
holds 14 Air Medals and a Bronze Star. In addition,
in 2009, he and the members of the 319th Special
Operations Squadron were awarded the coveted Joseph
B. Duckworth Annual USAF Instrument Award.
" We worked with the avionics in the platform we were
flying at the time to get the federated mission system
more integrated with the avionics on the aircraft to
simplify its overall operations, " he said.
54 avionics news * july 2023
The brawn gets some capable brains
Fortunately, from a cost-savings perspective, aside
from beefing up the wing, not many other airframe
modifications needed to be made. Out of the box, the AT802U
is a capable multimission platform.
No other platform in its class has the size, weight,
power, and modularity to accommodate a broad range
of specialized payloads, weapons, and communications
needed for simultaneous and persistent ISR strike
support.
But the same couldn't be said for the aircraft's
avionics suite. Sure, it leaves the factory well equipped
for firefighting or cropdusting, but in the world of ISR,
they fell well short of the mark.
One of the Sky Warden project's requirements is that
it has to carry an array of communications and sensor
suites that are on par with larger USSOCOM aircraft like
King Airs and the AC-130.
" The whole cockpit - back and front - is a
modification we do, " Savoie said. " It's very extensive
and includes Garmin G3000 touchscreens, two GTCs
(touchscreen controllers), backup electronic flight
instruments, and we also add HOTAS (hands-on throttle
and stick) controls. "
In fact, the Sky Warden is the first forward-fit
deployable combat aircraft that will feature a Garmin
G3000 tandem integrated cockpit. As Garmin stated
in its announcement about the Sky Warden program,
" The G3000 provides USSOCOM with the latest
communications, navigation, surveillance air traffic
management capabilities with commercial-off-the-shelf
solutions based on Garmin's open architecture design. "
As for the actual G3000 suite itself, the Sky Warden's
tandem cockpits feature G3000 touchscreen displays
with night vision goggle compatibility, a GFC 700 digital
autopilot coupled to the FMS, pilot-configurable searchand-rescue
patterns, TAWS, TCAS, ADS-B In, and more.
Savoie also said that while the system's list of
capabilities was impressive, L3Harris' long-standing
relationship with Garmin was a big part of the G3000
suite's selection. Still, it went much deeper than just
the functionality and flexibility of the four touchscreen
displays.
" One of the most significant lessons we had learned
on earlier platforms is the importance of feeling that a
mission system is federated in the avionics suite, " he
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