Reducing Aircraft Downtime for Airborne Instrumentation: 2024 Update

Abstract

This document addresses utilizing technology to significantly reduce the amount of dedicated time required to install airborne instrumentation. The specific use cases addressed are the F-15 and F-16 fighter jets. Technical innovations include the use of wireless instrumentation, batteries, and other technologies. It should be noted that all of these technological innovations are not new to industry; due to cybersecurity, airworthiness, and other concerns, however, Department of Defense aircraft instrumentation organizations have been slow to incorporate these new devices and/or processes into their solutions. In spite of these concerns and challenges, the application of these innovations should greatly reduce aircraft downtime when installing airborne instrumentation on aircraft. This presentation will discuss technology and anticipated time savings of applying the aforementioned innovations towards aircraft instrumentation installations.