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Battelle is under contract with Warner Robins Air Logistics Center to design a common large area display set (CLADS) for use in multiple airborne C4I applications that currently use unique 19 inch CRTs. Engineers at Battelle have determined that by taking advantage of the latest flat panel display technology and the commonality between C4I applications, one display head (21 inch diagonal, 1280 by 1024) can be used in multiple applications. In addition, common modules are being designed by Battelle to reduce the number of installation- specific circuit card assemblies required for a particular application. Initial USAF applications include replacements for the E-3 AWACS color monitor assembly, E-8 Joint STARS graphics display unit, and ABCCC airborne color display. Initial U. S. Navy applications include the E-2C ACIS display. For these applications reliability and maintainability are key objectives. The common design reduces the number of unique subassemblies in the USAF inventory by 56 to 66%. In addition to total module reductions, CLADs module/subassembly re-use across nine potential applications is estimated to be 73%. As more platforms implement CLADS, the percentage of module re-use increases. The new design is also expected to have a MTBF of at least 3350 hours, an order of magnitude better than one of the current systems. In the Joint STARS installation, more than 1400 pounds can be eliminated from the aircraft. In the E-3 installation, the CLADs is estimated to provide a power reduction of approximately 1750 watts per aircraft. This paper discuses the common large area display set design and it use in a variety of C4I applications that require a large area, high resolution, full color display.
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