STUDY OF NEW NAVIGATION FUNCTIONALITIES FOR CIVIL-MILITARY INTEROPERABILITY IN SINGLE EUROPEAN SKY

The activities described in this publication have been conducted in Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) framework in collaboration with Alenia Aermacchi S.p.A. The aim of work is to study solutions for avionic upgrades of navigation system for allowing civil-military interoperability in a Single European Sky ATM context. Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) is the on-going European research program aiming at designing and validating a reformation of the Air Traffic Management system. The interoperability assessment of existing military platforms in terms of capability to support mission trajectory functions is the aim of WP 9.3 project of SESAR program. First of all, investigations of SESAR operational context have been performed, identifying concept elements coming from activities carried out inside and outside SESAR Consortium, (e.g. Eurocontrol studies on the subject). The analysis of operational context has allowed to define, with the support of Eurocontrol experts, those SESAR functions relevant and applicable to military mission profiles and military users needs. The selected SESAR functions for implementation on military avionics are Initial 4D and ASPA S&M and the have been named Key-4D functions. These represent important enablers for enhancing ATM efficiency in managing segregated areas where military aircraft typically perform part of their operations. Interoperability Assessment of military navigation systems versus defined Key-4D functions has been the first analysis conducted. A qualitative evaluation of impacts of the modifications on the military navigation equipment has been performed in order to understand how onerous (e.g. software modification, hardware modification or equipment substitution) could be the implementation of above mentioned Key-4D functions. Results coming from WP 9.20 and WP 9.24 of SESAR has also allowed to evaluate interoperability of military avionics for what concerns communication and surveillance systems.Starting from the state of the art military navigation systems based on Mission Computer (MC) and Flight Management System (FMS), after the definition of Key-4D functions, their implementation on the military CNS system has been designed. An important element to be considered in the Key-4D implementation on military aircraft has been design of Human Machine Interface. Starting from the analysis of cockpit configuration for considered military platform (i.e. Transport and Fighter), allocation of HMI functions to existing Displays and Control Panels has been defined. Data flows among CNS system, Displays and Control Panels have been defined in order to create a basis for Human Machine Interface definition. A Human Machine Interface prototype both for Transport-type and Fighter aircraft has been developed, it has been reviewed and approved by Alenia HMI operability specialists and Alenia military pilots. The aim of the present publication is to discuss methodologies and results of WP 9.3 project of SESAR.