BAE Systems upgrades MIDS JTRS terminals on F-16 fleet

A F-16 during a mission at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, Feb. 14, 2019. (US Air Force/Tech Sgt John Raven)

A BAE Systems-developed terminal upgrade for the US Air Force's (USAF's) Multifunctional Information Distribution System Joint Tactical Radio System (MIDS JTRS) terminals is intended to accelerate and streamline aircraft maintenance across the fleet, company officials said.

The upgrade consists of a newly automated “test solution” software for tactical navigation functions aboard the USAF F-16 aircraft equipped with the MIDS JTRS system, according to a BAE Systems statement issued in May.

Specifically, the new software will automate maintenance testing to validate Link 16 capability aboard the MIDS JTRS platform, as well as other avionics line replaceable units (LRUs) critical to F-16 flight operations, the company said.

Once fully integrated into the USAF avionics testing and maintenance regime, the new software “will enable US forces and allies to rapidly diagnose failures and validate the operational status of their MIDS JTRS terminals on-site, increasing the availability of their aircraft and reducing maintenance downtime”.

The new software will be integrated into air service's man-portable avionics test station for tactical aircraft, known as Versamodule Extensions for Instrumentation Improved Avionics Intermediate Shop (VXIIAIS), as well as the Rackmount Improved Avionics Intermediate Shop (R-IAIS). Both are used, in tandem, to support tactical-level maintenance, modification, and upgrade work for MIDS JTRS systems.

The new software, once integrated into maintenance depots across the air force, will provide “more fidelity in testing with tactical navigation functions ... to rapidly diagnose failures and validate the operational status of their MIDS JTRS terminals on-site”, Meg Redlin, product line director for Advanced Mission Solutions at BAE Systems, said in the statement.