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F-16 Radar

 

 

 

The Intermittent Fault Detection & Isolation System (IFDIS™) is in use with the USAF to increase the Availability and reduce the Total Ownership Costs (TOC) of the F-16 AN/APG-68 Radar system. The Utah-based Ogden Air Logistics Center uses the IFDIS™ to test several radar LRUs, including the Modular Low Power Radio Frequency unit (MLPRF), the Azimuth-Elevation ribbon-cable, the Digibus Matrix Plate Assembly Ribbon Cable, the Mechanically Scanned Array back-plane, and the Radar Antenna.
To pick just one example, the Return On Investment from testing the MLPRF has been astounding. The MLPRF was suffering high rates of No Fault Found and was selected for IFDIS™ testing. As at October 2011, nearly 200 MLPRF chassis have been tested to date, with intermittent faults found in 67% of all items tested; moreover, the IFDIS™ has also found significant numbers of miswires, shorts and opens – all of which had remained undetected when using conventional ATE.

 

 

So far this has resulted in the recovery of flight hardware worth $36M, repair man-hours halved and Mean Time Between Repair increased from 289 to 729 flying hours: all of which is contributing to ongoing TOC reductions of $4M per year. In recognition of this outstanding success, the IFDIS™ was voted as the 2010 winner of the US DoD Great Maintenance Ideas competition, from a field of over 300 entrants.

 

To find out more about the use of the IFDIS™ on the F-16 email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
or call us on +44(0)1343 842406.