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" CRTs. Battelle engineers have determined that by taking advantage of the latest flat panel display technology and the commonality between C4I applications, one display set (21" diag. 1280 X 1024) can be designed for use in multiple applications. In addition, common nodular driver and processing electronics are being designed by Battelle to reduce the number of installation-specific circuit card assemblies required for a particular application. Three initial applications include the E-3 (AWACS) color monitor assembly, E-8 (JSTARS) graphics display unit, and ABCCC airborne color display. For these three applications reliability and maintainability are key drivers. The common design approach reduces the number of unique subassemblies in the USAF inventory by approximately 56 to 66 percent. The new design is also expected to have MTBF of at least 3350 hours, and order of magnitude better than one of the current systems. In the JSTARS installation, more than 1400 lbs 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 will discuss the common large area display set design and its use in a variety of C4I applications that require a large area, high resolution, full color display.
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