The Network-Centric Aircraft

In the age of the World Wide Web (www), it is hard to imagine the concept of platform-centric systems, such as many of the aircraft that are in service today. These aircraft were built with the requirement to be self-sufficient, safe, and survivable.

Dependency on off-board inputs was minimized as advanced avionics technologies allowed aircraft to assess and respond to their environment flight dynamics independently. These aircraft have been conceived, created, and maintained right up to this new information age. It takes significant effort to open the architectures of these aircraft, in order for their existing capabilities to be enhanced by outside information. Fortunately, the adaptability and flexibility of aircraft computers makes this process possible for many of these aircraft.

The modern aircraft (conceived, created, and maintained since the mid-1990s) is a network-centric aircraft. These aircraft take full advantage of the platform-centric systems with independent suites of avionics and aircraft computers. However, they have the additional ability to adapt to their environmental flight dynamics, which is possible because these systems have access to the most recent information about their environment.

They can interactively communicate with other aircraft entering and leaving their environment, as well as take advantage of the information services available in that environment. The aircraft computers work very much the same as in the platform-centric aircraft, but with improved and broader information than was available before (27,28).

The network-centric aircraft can take full advantage of route changes caused by heavy air traffic, threats, or weather. It can send its systems self-diagnostics ahead to maintenance crews, who can have parts and resources available reducing the service re-cycling time of the aircraft. It can inform passengers and crew about their individual travel plans and the options available to them as they arrive at their destinations. It can help air traffic controllers and flight planners manage the dynamic workload of the many aircraft in service.

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