IAI's upgraded F-16 on display in Paris

The first flight of an F-16 aircraft upgraded by a consortium led Israeli Defense Industries was successfully completed last month in Israel and was so successful that, after additional test flights the aircraft was flown to France to be displayed at the Paris Air Show.

The programme has been named ACE, which stands for Avionics Capabilities Enhancement.

The first flight took place after the completion of the final development stages, which involved avionics system integration at IAI's subsidiary LAHAV's System Integration Laboratory and installation of the new systems on the prototype F-16 ACE aircraft. The test pilots were impressed by the considerable improvement in performance that the newly installed display and avionics systems provide. The F-16's original avionics design dates back to the 1970s.

The completed F-16 ACE prototype aircraft reflects the tremendous progress in avionics technology made in recent years. The new avionics suite is on par with those of the most advanced fighters in current production. F-16 ACE pilots will detect and identify their targets with the assistance of the IAI/Elta EL/M-2032 Fire Control Radar. This advanced radar with SAR modes offers outstanding air-to-air and air-to-ground performance.

Targets and relevant data are displayed on the F-16 ACE's three 5"x7" colour displays, creating a "Full Glass Cockpit" layout that has yet to be introduced on any operational F-16 aircraft. A wide angle HUD manufactured by El-Op project data into the pilot's outer view of the world. Elbit's Helmet Mounted Display provides F-16 ACE pilots with an alternative to the HUD, enabling them to choose of the systems as the main head up display.

In order to reduce pilot workload a new Up Front Control Panel (UFCP) with integral data display is located directly in front of the pilot. The UFCP reduces to a minimum the number of entries required by the pilot to insert data, read messages or give commands to the aircraft's systems. This user friendly panel provides just one example of the F-16 ACE's optimised man-machine interface, which is based on the extensive experience gained by Israel Air Force pilots on a variety of advanced combat aircraft.

Information detected by the F-16 ACE's sensors as well as data from external sensors is processed by the aircraft's powerful Mission Computer and then routed to the new displays. The Mission Computer and the displays are both Israeli developed systems.

The F-16 ACE's avionics suite has an open architecture design, meaning that new sensors (internal and external), Data Link, and existing and new weapons systems can be accommodated without requiring hardware changes.

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