Scott Nicholas
General Atomics‘ aeronautical systems business has conducted a critical design review (CDR) on its ground control station offering for the U.S. Air Force as part of efforts towards fielding new technologies for the military branch’s fleet of remotely piloted aircraft.
General Atomics said Tuesday that it conducted the CDR for the Advanced Cockpit Block 50 GCS offering at the company’s facility in Poway, California.
Block 50 features an open architecture which has full functional and payload separation to support integration, fielding and testing of new payloads.
The system also features a hands on throttle and stick for flight component, payload, weapons and sensor system control platform as well as a synthetic video display system.
David Alexander, president of aircraft systems at GA-ASI, said that the company’s Block 50 team developed the platform to help address more than 700 client requirements regarding performance areas.
A Cockpit Evaluation Team, composed of Air Force pilots and sensor operators, have designed the human machine interface of the Block 50 system to help users reduce workloads.
The National Institute for Aviation Research also helped develop the overall layout of the ground control station which was based on human factors.
