Northrop Grumman delivers third digital cockpit software upgrade for UH-60V Black Hawks

Northrop Grumman has delivered a new digital cockpit software upgrade to the Army for its UH-60V Black Hawk helicopters, a company official told Inside Defense yesterday.

The digital cockpit upgrades are part of the integrated avionics suite for the Army's UH-60V Black Hawks, which the company is providing. The open architecture system is more agile and incorporates a multicore processor for enhanced performance, James Conroy, vice president for navigation, targeting and survivability at Northrop Grumman, said in an interview.

Conroy said the company in November delivered "software version three," slated for first unit equipped platforms, as the service is "going through [its] airworthiness certification" to issue instrument flight rules for nighttime limited visibility flying.

The company in April said it had completed the initial operational test and evaluation stage of the digital cockpit upgrades, according to a press release.

The third software upgrade package "is going to be used in an additional IOT&E flight test that is starting imminently," Conroy said. "It really delivers upgraded interfaces for multiple functions, including the moving map displays as well as the radio communications. This upgrade provides improvements to existing functionality and really makes it more responsive . . . so really looking at that pilot vehicle interface . . . and optimization for those pilots."