Vetronics In The UK and Europe

UK Projects Cont.• FRES - Future-Rapid-Effects-System– A family of vehicles similar in concept toFCS with a C130 or A400M size-weightlimit. So 24 ton variant is the larger type.– No prototypes exist and concepts arevirtual only!

Upgrades UK• CR2 Challenger 2 will have technologyinsertions and the switch to smoothbore gunseems likely. Smart projectiles may requirefire control update.• Warrior - the vehicle will have vetronicsupdate and the turret will be replaced forCTA 40mm weapon (not all types)

FCLV Alvis ScarabA true COTS AFV witha highly integrated setof BMS and weaponsvetronics.Automotive parts are COTSfrom UNIMOG (transmission)and MERCEDES (engine)Using SAGEM’sTACTIS B.M.S. andTHALES SWARM firecontrol and weaponsystem.

SCARAB SystemsTACTIS BMS (SAGEM)SCARAB (Multi positionBMS and fire control)

Scarab Vetronics• The system is an RS232, 485, 422 basedmix of SAGEM TACTIS BMS (French)and Thales SWARM remote turret with TIDTV range-finder and weapon (French)• The communications suite includes twoPR4G radios Thales (French)• At the time of building ALVIS could not getany other interfaces to these products

MRAV

MRAV IntegrationHas been designedto use CANbus asits automotivenetwork from thestart.Will have missionspecific vetronics fitin the payloadmodule.

FRES Concept

Concept FRES

European VetronicsNot a military (defence) industry

The European Scene• Dominated by COTS or ruggedised COTSparts (ROTS)• European HGV designs have pioneeredmany CANbus technologies• Private cars in Europe are sold on safetyand performance with high end models soldon specification.

New Influences• Safety critical systems (steer by wire andbrake by wire) without mechanical backupbeing considered. Safety critical systemssuch as airbag, seat belt pre-tensioners andfuel cut off already in use by Mercedesusing DSI (distributed systems interface)• TTP time triggered protocol and X by wirealready in use by Citroen

DSI In Car safety system

Mercedes S ClassSource: (AutoWeek OnlineOct 7 2002) US S430 and 500models now have DSI

European Vetronics• So the European car and truck market willbe the source of vetronics knowledge toAFVs.• The next generation AFVs will concentrateon network centric warfare and lightdeployable vehicles.• Vetronics fit critical to success butexperience very limited.

COTs and all that…..• European military budgets are very small sothe use of COTS is attractive.• COTS vehicle parts are supported at best for10 years. AFV lifetime 25+ years. E.g.CVRT has I.S.D. 1971 and O.S.D. 2010+• So obsolescence is an issue and the conceptof plug and play or open systemsarchitecture is very attractive.

Obsolescence ManagementCVRT has been in service from 1971 and will bethe stop-gap tracer vehicle until at least 2007

CVRT with SPIR sightsand diesel engine upgrade

The European AFVWith Reference To Vetronics

Trends• In the UK we are transitioning fromvehicles with very little vetronics asdescribed.• France has the largest vetronics industry inEurope and is the only European Army toalready have digitized but this is basedaround applique RSXXX and Digibus

Cont…..• German and UK vetronics are linked by MRAVprogram. BMW, Mercedes, Audi all world leadersin vetronics.• Italy has an in house capability which benefitsfrom having a large domestic car and truckindustry FIAT, IVECO etc. Ducati make the onlyCANbus motorcycle in the world! (999)• But it is the commercial vehicle/car industry thatowns vetronics in Europe.

Vetronics In The UKThe new era

AFV Vetronics UK• UK transition from DERA to Qinetiq andDSTL structure has left R+D in limbo.• The “VSI For Land Platforms In TheDigitized Battlespace” program produced ahuge report and Draft Standards forVetronics Standards and Infrastructure.• This includes CBIS, PICCS and commoncrew station standards.

UK Digitization• UK is currently going from a 1970s basedradio and command system structure(Clansman and Ptarmigan) to…• Bowman and a version of the CanadianIRIS BMS system.• At the same time the force is being restructuredtowards light rapid deploymentunits that will be net-centric.

Architecture• UK study by DERA and industry in 1998 isa comprehensive study of vehiclearchitecture and its interplay withdigitisation.• Defines power distribution, automotivenetwork/bus, data and video distributionsystems and the concept of commonplatform interface to C 3 I

Architecture cont.• PICCS – Platform Integrated Command andControl System• CIBIS - Common Infrastructure forBattlefield Information Systems• An attempt at a common crew stationarchitecture was also made with variationsfor legacy /low value vehicles

UK Common Crew Station

Power Distribution Architecture

PICCS and CIBIS Interfaces architecture

Alvis Crew InterfaceDemonstrator• ACID is a static mock-up fitted with:− advanced crewstations− Graphical User Interface (GUI)− SWARM Weapon mount− fixed and panoramic cameras (sights).• Addresses the big Human Factors Integration Issues− Use of indirect vision for maintaining situational awareness− target detection, identification and engagement using indirectvision− development and proving of a generic crew station with graphicalUser Interface on an AFV - focused at FRES and other futureplatforms

Alvis Vetronics IntegrationDemonstratorAVID is a Warrior based technology demonstrator• Addresses Vetronics Integration issues at a vehicle level:− implementation of CANbus to control vehicle subsystems− implementation of an “intelligent” power distribution system− implementation of video distribution− interface with a C4 bus− emulators to investigate integration issues• Addresses human factors issues:− interaction between crew using advanced crew stations− crew workload• Proposed expansion to investigate C4I impact and interface withvehicle central architecture

AVID Power Distribution SystemWeaponSensorHeadPCU 5RBJFrontLightingIntervehicleSocketPCU 1CrewStat.1PCU 4Driver’sPanelNBC/AirconSCrewStat.2PCU 3CrewStat.3BoilingVesselSRadios PCU 2SquadDisp.VMU 1Powerbus APower PackPCU&PDBBatteries(4 off)BMSPowerbus BVMU 2Vehicle Supply (24V DC)

AVID Utility Bus ArchitectureSensorHeadPCU 5RBJCrewStat.1SWARMInterfaceCrewStat.2CrewStat.3EthernetSquadDisp.PCU 1PCU 4GatePCU 3Radios PCU 2VMU 1LocalCANbusPower PackPCU&PDBVideoSwitchBMSVMU 2CANbus

AVID Video Distribution SystemRBJCrewStat.1CrewStat.2CrewStat.3SquadDisp.VideoSwitchBMSSensor ImagesVideoVGA

ACID & AVID Status• Major Elements of ACID completed− except for fitting SWARM weapon mount -awaiting harnesses• AVID work ongoing and is on schedule for a static(mock-up based) demonstrator for end of the year.− Development of CAN power control units isprogressing to schedule & due for delivery mid tolate November− Development of Vehicle Monitoring Unit (HUMS)due late November− Writing application software is due to commenceimminently.

Vetronics Assessment ModelA PhD Study At a very early phase

Vetronics AssessmentModel• The need is seen because– current vehicles have very little systemsintegration and vetronics architecture– New vehicles will have a large number ofsystems that must be integrated.– Change to lighter vehicles requires vetronics tocontribute to survivability and lethality as wellas mobility

Core Concepts• The impact of the vetronics fit on thevehicle needs to be assessed in terms of– mobility [automotive vetronics]– lethality [fire control and SA integration]– survivability [DAS and SA integration]• maintainability [ built in diagnostics]• logistical support [fuel, ammunition,automotivewear reported via digital network]• training [built in simulation]

Systems Integration• The new vehicles will have many vetronicsfunctional blocks, but these must be part ofan integrated system.• Past experience has shown very poor VSIand only limited use of any vetronics bus ornetwork (1553 in CR2)• Model should show effect of VSI on vehicleperformance.

Architecture• The vetronics systems will have interactionsvia the various networks, bridges and buslike connections……–So the ARCHICTECTURE will be veryimportant

First Step• To assemble a good data-base ofcurrent/likely near future vetronics subsystems and then use a scoring system torate them in percentage terms.• These scored sub system components arethen used as input for any assessed design

Second Step• The various data bus and networktechnologies are categorised and thenscored in terms of performance.• These scored data transfer technologies arethen used as input for any given architecturebeing assessed.

Third Step• Vehicle architecture is defined usingbuilding blocks from scored sub system anddata transfer technologies• This architecture is assessed for systemsintegration score and any bridges etcassessed to give architecture score• Power and video architecture must also beassessed

Fourth Step• The design is now given a total performancescore. This is then re-calculated withvarious sub systems being rendered inoperative.This will give a view of criticalfailure points.• The cost of the system modules andsoftware could be included to give a costbenefit analysis of vetronics.

Why?Because the vetronics fit is a set ofnetworks and is highly sensitive toarchitecture and software fit.

Possible ApproachAcquire VehicleUser RequirementsInput vehicleArchitectureInput vehiclevetronics fitModel evaluatestotal vetronics fitEvaluatesystems against scored data

Horses for Courses• But an ISTAR vehicle and an IFV havevery different vetronics demands andsensitivities to vetronics fitments!!• So model must have a requirements captureinput for vehicle type to be assessed.• Thus vetronics fit must be scored againstvehicle type requirements.

Over-View Of Assessment ToolRequirementsCaptureVetronicsSub-SystemsTotal vehiclemodelData NetworksAnd BridgesArchitecturedata/power/video

Final ThoughtsHow to assess avehicle’s vetronics ina rigid non opinionbased paradigm?Could we use an expertsystem approach?This could then use someform of multivariate analysis.