The program is designed to bring advanced missile-warning and threat-detection capabilities to current and future Army aviation platforms, including the AH-64 Apache and MV-75 Cheyenne Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft. ITDS will detect, classify and identify electro-optical and infrared threats before directing the aircraft’s defensive response.
Curtiss-Wright’s integrated processor will receive high-bandwidth sensor data, process and fuse that information in real time, and distribute warnings across the aircraft. Its modular open architecture is intended to ease the integration of new capabilities and allow the technology to be transferred between different platforms.
The processor will be paired with Northrop Grumman’s Advanced Tactical Hostile Engagement Awareness sensor, known as ATHENA. Together, the systems are designed to provide timely missile warnings and move critical threat information across the aircraft quickly enough to support protective action.
Brian Perry, senior vice president and general manager of Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions, said: “Combining Curtiss-Wright’s highly durable processing capability with Northrop Grumman’s ATHENA sensor will result in an unrivaled threat detection capability, providing the potential to protect aircrews from virtually any weapon system – air to air or surface to air – employed by our adversaries. Our integrated processor excels at rapidly processing and transporting large amounts of data in the most demanding environments, making it the optimal computing solution for latency-critical sense and response protection systems such as ITDS.”
ATHENA is designed to provide 360-degree situational awareness and high-resolution detection of electro-optical and infrared threats. Its stated capabilities include locating unmanned aerial systems, air-to-air missiles, anti-tank guided missiles and rocket-propelled grenades.
Curtiss-Wright’s processor uses modules aligned with the Modular Open Systems Approach and Sensor Open Systems Architecture standards, housed within a conduction-cooled chassis built for airborne operations. High-speed optical connections and configurable input-output interfaces are designed to support both modern digital sensors and legacy aircraft systems.
The company said the processor also offers artificial intelligence-enabled computing and real-time, network-centric data sharing. Those features are intended to allow the platform to accommodate new sensors, algorithms and countermeasure systems as threat and protection technologies evolve.
ITDS will be designed to initiate the appropriate response after classifying a threat, including directable infrared or expendable countermeasures. It will also provide hostile-fire warnings that distinguish small-arms fire from rocket threats.
The planned system will consist of infrared sensors, a processor and a memory module operating through a digital backbone. It will conform to the Future Airborne Capability Environment and comply with the Army’s Modular Open Systems Approach requirements.
