Airbus Military's A400M airlifter is a

cost effective, high-speed

turboprop aircraft specifically

designed to replace ageing C-130

Hercules and C-160 Transall fleets

currently in service around

the world.

The System Airbus Military instruments the

A400M with a distributed Ethernet

DAS using Acra KAM-500 DAUs,

many in remote, high vibration

locations

The Results • Reduction of wiring by 30%

• Simplified concurrent

engineering and re-useable

instrumentation architecture

• A flexible, low risk flight test

instrumentation system

Airbus Military reduces risk, cost

and time of A400M flight test program

with rugged Acra KAM-500 DAUs

A400M

COMMERCIAL OFF-THE-SHELF

MODULAR DESIGN

The System The core of the onboard flight test instrumentation is based on an innovative architecture using an Ethernet switched network topology developed for the A380 test program.

Though military aircraft do differ in data acquisition requirements, the flexibility of Ethernet makes system variations easy by using a switch backbone. • The installation performs the data acquisition of

temperature, voltage and strain measurements

• Heavily instrumented test aircraft are fitted with 60 Acra KAM-500 chassis in the engines and wings of the aircraft

• A master DAU provides time referencing from GPS for the

entire distributed network

• The Ethernet DAS outputs IENA (UDP) packets to onboard switches and workstations for real-time analysis

Acra KAM-500

Lowers Risk Proven on every platform type in

all environmental conditions

COTS hardware with short delivery

times

Reduces Cost of Ownership Reduced inventory of spares due

to common product line

Lower installation, setup and

maintenance requirements

Modular design greatly extends

system lifetime

FTI by Design Designed to minimize the data

transfer time from sensor to screen

Guaranteed predictable data

Simultaneous sampling occurs

across the complete system

WORKS ONCE

WORKS ALWAYS

“ There has not been a lost

flight or aircraft grounded

on the A400M program

due to Acra equipment. It

has worked flawlessly from

the first flight.

The Results I

Reduction of wiring by 30%

Acra’s DAUs can withstand the harshest environments

thanks to their MIL-SPEC environmental ruggedness.

Their compact, low power design makes them ideal for

installing close to the sensors in locations that have

limited space such as engine nacelles or wings.

• Being close to the sensors reduced cabling by 30%

• It also meant there was less noise in the received

signal

• DAUs being installed outside the cabin freed up space

Tests were carried out on the A400M for empty loads,

drop cargo and ramp open scenarios. These were easier

to set up because Acra’s equipment resided in remote

areas as opposed to taking up critical cabin space.

Jean-Pascal Caturla

FTI Acquisition System Team Leader

Airbus SAS

Acra equipment

gives good results in

spite of the severe

environmental

operating conditions.

The Results II

Simplified concurrent engineering and re-useable

instrumentation architecture.

Re-using the FTI system design from the A380 program

simplified the engineering costs for the definition and

production of the FTI system.

Knowledge gained from the A380 program enabled

Airbus to design connections to remote DAUs early on

using approximate measurement requirements, thus

speeding up the program.

The ability to use the same hardware in a high vibration

environment without modification and the savings in

the cost of training for people already familiar with the

system greatly reduces the overall cost.

“

HIGH QUALITY DATA

FLIGHT AFTER FLIGHT

UNPARALLELED LEVELS OF

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

The Results III

Reduction in overall flight test program time

through quick, reliable delivery of new products

When the need for a CAN bus monitor was

identified Acra developed the KAD/CBM module

in 12 months.

During the time it took to develop the new module,

Acra provided Airbus Military with a temporary system

so that the program could start without delay.

The confidence that Acra would deliver a working

solution in time was instilled by past success with Airbus,

the proven modular architecture of the Acra KAM-500,

and a track record of delivering 100+ modules.

For more information visit

www.cwc-ae.com

Curtiss-Wright Controls Avionics & Electronics

cwc-ae@curtisswright.com

665 North Baldwin Park Boulevard City of Industry, CA 91746, USA

Phone: 626-851-3100

Landscape House, Landscape Road Dublin 14, Ireland Phone: +353-1295-1264