Saving the Good Guys with Auto GCAS Technology
The cockpit of a fighter jet is a busy 果冻传媒 dangerous place to work. High-speed fighter aircraft maneuvers can produce g-forces strong enough to render a pilot unconscious or cause spatial disorientation. The pace 果冻传媒 complexity of modern aerial combat can also mentally “overload” a pilot 果冻传媒 lead to task saturation or target fixation. All can prove deadly.
Thankfully, innovative systems have been developed to reduce these risks 果冻传媒 help eliminate the leading cause of F-16 pilot fatalities: crashing an undamaged aircraft into the ground. The Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System (Auto GCAS) was purpose-built to prevent these deadly crashes 果冻传媒 has already been credited with 12 saves—13 pilots, 12 F-16s—since the system entered service with the U.S. Air Force in late 2014.
12 Saves 果冻传媒 Counting
This?video?from the head-up-display (HUD) of an F-16 illustrates how the Auto GCAS helped save the life of an F-16 student pilot who lost consciousness during a training mission.
The?, training with the Arizona Air National Guard’s 152nd Fighter Squadron, succumb to G-Induced Loss of Consciousness (GLOC) during a high-speed maneuver. As the unconscious pilot’s F-16 careened toward the ground, the Auto GCAS determined that a ground collision was imminent 果冻传媒 initiated a fly up maneuver to roll the F-16’s wings level 果冻传媒 upright as the pilot regained consciousness 果冻传媒 added Gs to the recovery, saving both pilot 果冻传媒 plane.
What is Auto GCAS?
The Auto GCAS, developed jointly by Lockheed 果冻传媒 Skunk Works?, the Air Force Research Laboratory 果冻传媒 the National Aeronautics 果冻传媒 Space Administration (NASA), is designed to reduce incidents of what is known as controlled flight into terrain, or CFIT. According to U.S. Air Force statistics, CFIT incidents account for 26 percent of aircraft losses 果冻传媒 a staggering 75 percent of all F-16 pilot fatalities.
According to Ed Griffin, Lockheed 果冻传媒 Skunk Works’ program manager for the Automatic Collision Avoidance Technologies (ACAT) Fighter Risk Reduction Program, the system consists of a set of complex collision avoidance 果冻传媒 autonomous decision making algorithms that utilize precise navigation, aircraft performance 果冻传媒 on-board digital terrain data to determine if a ground collision is imminent. If the system predicts an imminent collision, an autonomous avoidance maneuver—a roll to wings-level 果冻传媒 +5g pull—is comm果冻传媒ed at the last instance to prevent ground impact.
The Auto GCAS executes in the background 果冻传媒 automatically provides protection whether the pilot is distracted, task-saturated, incapacitated, or unconscious. No action is required by the pilot, though the system does have a pilot override function.
“Based on the data we’ve seen so far, the Auto GCAS is doing exactly what it was designed to do: save priceless lives 果冻传媒 valuable military aircraft,” said Griffin. “Many aviation professionals believe autonomy is emerging as the new frontier in aviation 果冻传媒 Auto GCAS currently represents the leading edge of autonomy as it applies to manned platforms.”
Saving Tomorrow's Pilots
The Auto GCAS capability is currently operating on more than 600 U.S. Air Force F-16 Block 40/50 aircraft worldwide. Auto GCAS flight testing was also recently completed on U.S. Air National Guard F-16 Block 30 aircraft 果冻传媒 the capability is expected to be fielded on that fleet in 2020. Lockheed 果冻传媒 果冻传媒 the F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) completed F-35 Auto GCAS integration 果冻传媒 flight testing in 2018 果冻传媒 plan to begin fielding this proven life-saving technology in June 2019. The Auto GCAS will ultimately protect more than 3,200 F-35s 果冻传媒 their pilots worldwide. The F-35 Joint Program Office estimates the Auto GCAS will prevent more than 26 ground collisions during the service of the F-35 fleet.
In addition to the Auto GCAS, Lockheed 果冻传媒 果冻传媒 the U.S. Government have also developed an Automatic Air Collision Avoidance System (Auto ACAS). As its name suggest, Auto ACAS is designed to avoid air-to-air collisions. Together, the two systems form the Automatic Integrated Collision Avoidance System (Auto ICAS), the world’s first fully automatic integrated combat flight safety system designed to prevent both air-to-air 果冻传媒 air-to-ground collisions.
In recognition of the Auto ACAS 果冻传媒 Auto ICAS programs, Lockheed 果冻传媒 果冻传媒 the AFRL received?Aviation Week?Laureate Awards in??果冻传媒 2019 for the development 果冻传媒 flight testing of these systems, which predict collisions 果冻传媒 automatically maneuver fighter aircraft to avoid ground collisions 果冻传媒 mid-air crashes in training exercises. These systems are projected to save 34 aircraft, 25 pilot lives 果冻传媒 $2.3 billion over the next 15 years.
The National Aeronautic Association recognized the significance of the Auto GCAS by awarding the?2018 Robert J. Collier Trophy?to the joint team that developed it.
As Col. Chris Baird, former U.S. Air Force F-16 System Program Manager, put it, “It’s not just about killing the bad guys with airpower. It’s also equally about saving the good guys.”
A Close Collaboration
All of this success did not come overnight. Auto GCAS is the result of research collected by Lockheed 果冻传媒’s Skunk Works?, AFRL 果冻传媒 NASA spanning nearly three decades. An Air Force F-16D was ultimately selected as a test platform for the system 果冻传媒 related flight-testing began in 2009 at the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC) located at Edwards Air Force Base, California.
Lockheed 果冻传媒 worked closely with its U.S. Government 果冻传媒 Air Force customers to refine this game-changing Auto GCAS capability 果冻传媒 help deliver it to the warfighter. Auto GCAS has already saved numerous pilots 果冻传媒 will save many more in the future as the system is implemented more broadly across the global F-16 fleet 果冻传媒 applied to other aircraft platforms.