News


A ‘plug and play’ Stores Management System could reduce the cost and time needed to integrate weapons on aircraft


Summer 2011


Issue 13 Dynamics 3


Sponsorship


Building morale with the British Forces Foundation


The British Forces Foundation now has the support of General Dynamics UK in its mission to bring the Armed Forces and British public closer together, and boost troop morale.


The three-year sponsorship of the BFF enables the charity to develop and expand its output for servicemen and women on the front lines. The events have one lasting result – a boost in morale for British service personnel.


“The General Dynamics UK partnership clearly


makes a real difference to the British Forces Foundation’s work,” commented BFF’s chief executive, Mark Cann, “but also directly shows the Armed Forces that they have the support of General Dynamics UK beyond the equipment the company supplies to them.”


Mark Douglas, vice president of strategy


and marketing at General Dynamics UK agreed. “Supporting our troops on the front line doesn’t


Technology


Successful demo of ‘plug and play’ stores management


A General Dynamics UK team has taken the idea of a ‘plug and play’ Stores Management System (SMS) for military aircraft from a conceptual software model to a proof of concept demonstration operating in a real avionics architecture.


This could pave the way for future SMS implementations that could help reduce the cost and time needed to integrate weapons onto air platforms. And it shows how General Dynamics UK can participate in the weapon integration role beyond the supply of SMS equipment.


The work was carried out as part of the UK MoD’s Weapon


Integration UK (WIUK) research and technology programme. This reached a key milestone when, in June, General Dynamics UK hosted representatives from the Lynx Wildcat, Eurofighter and Scavenger project teams along with WIUK members from BAE Systems, Raytheon Systems, AgustaWestland, MBDA, QinetiQ and Thales to demonstrate the concepts of plug and


Trusted to deliver


play weapon integration on a real SMS, using a representative avionics architecture from the Lynx Wildcat.


The team also presented a WIUK study report into


the qualification and certification aspects of plug and play weapon integration.


The demonstration was the culmination of many hours


of work, negotiation and rehearsal. The result was a powerful message that this technology has real benefits to offer in delivering weapon integration cost savings on real platforms in meaningful timescales.


Explaining the role of the SMS


just mean providing them with the best possible equipment for their dangerous jobs on the UK’s behalf,” he said. “We believe that supporting the BFF can help make our troops lives just that little bit better by providing something that boosts their morale. It also shows that we care and the men and women in theatre are not forgotten”.


News


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