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| Press Release Number: EPX200304081 | 08-Apr-03 |
P-3C finishes upgrade program at VX-1 |
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| By LT MARK NAVE Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 1 PATUXENT RIVER NAVAL AIR STATION, MD-In an effort to quickly develop and introduce quality aviation systems and platforms to the warfighter, DoD has advocated forward thinking in the test community. This forward thinking has manifested itself by joining the two distinct phases of military test - developmental test and operational test - into one combined phase. The two phases are distinctly different. DT is characterized by system-on-system tests in a controlled environment conducted by trained experienced operators. OT, conversely, is independent in nature and conducted in a force-on-force operational environment by fleet-representative operators. In late January, Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 1 completed independent operational testing of the P-3C Block Modification Upgrade Program. VX-1 aircrews flew over 140 hours on a P-3C bureau-numbered 161129, which belongs to VP-66, a reserve P-3C squadron at NAS Willow Grove, Pa. This independent OT phase followed an extensive combined DT/OT phase, which concluded in June 2002. The P-3C BMUP system is an update to existing P-3C Update II and Update II.5 aircraft. It is designed to bring these aircraft in line with current Update III performance parameters. The BMUP system includes two major subsystems - the AN/USQ-78B acoustic processor and AN/ASQ-227 tactical computer. The P-3C BMUP aircraft will be used by both active-duty and reserve squadrons. These hardware upgrades bring commercial-off-the-shelf products to the P-3C. The operators now have color flat-panel displays, plasma touch panels and improved computer processor speeds. Combined DT/OT allowed the operational testers to get an early look at the systems integration and software development. It also eliminated some redundant testing, thus saving program time and cost. Combined DT/OT has several requirements that preclude its use in some projects. Testers must have an integrated evaluation plan and be able to collect OT-quality data from production-representative systems in an operational environment. Through foresight and planning from VX-1, PMA-290, VX-20 and VP-66, BMUP met those requirements and was able to leverage test data from the combined phase. In the long run, the fleet operator reaps the benefits of combined DT/OT - thoroughly tested systems are introduced quickly and at substantial savings to the U.S. Navy. -USN- |
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