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Press Release |
26th August 1998 |
| Aerosystems International support Lockheed Martin aeronautical systems to certify the C-130J Hercules for clearance by the UK MoD. |
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August 26th 1998 marked the delivery to DERA Boscombe Down of the first C130J Hercules aircraft supplied by Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems (LMAS). Aerosystems International (AeI) Ltd, the UK’s specialist aerospace systems house, have supported LMAS for the last three years producing the evidence to compile the Avionic Safety Case for this state of the art all-digital system aircraft. The Safety Case demonstrates the safety of the system to the levels and standards required by the UK MoD customer. The need for the work arose because the UK process required to award certification to military aircraft is significantly different from, and more demanding than, that required in the US. AeI have supplied a team, peaking at ten, safety and systems engineers who have worked alongside the LMAS development engineers in Marietta Georgia to organise and present the evidence in a form acceptable to UK MoD Procurement Executive. A very significant part of the total effort required was to provide third party assurance that the half a million lines of software code designated "safety critical" was safe to fly. This significant exercise was carried out in the UK by some fifty engineers led by AeI’s "Bug Buster" team. In order to carry out this ground-breaking task, AeI established a process which could become a UK standard for such work. In the course of the work, AeI staff were instrumental in identifying a number of potential safety threatening design faults and software errors all of which were corrected of mitigated prior to delivery of the aircraft. AeI is currently involved in a number of prestigious programmes for the Royal Navy, Royal Air Force and British Army. Jointly owned by GKN Aerospace and BAE SYSTEMS, the company was formed in 1985 and now has a turnover of over £50m with offices across the UK and the USA Note to Editors: Aerosystems International, jointly owned by GKN Aerospace and BAE SYSTEMS, was formed in 1985 for the sole purpose of developing aerospace systems and software, combining the avionics and systems expertise of GKN Westland with the software and project management skills of BAeSEMA. For further information please contact: Emma
Taylor |
