GROUND
PROXIMITY WARNING SYSTEM:
The
Best Protection Against Controlled Flight into Terrain
Cubic's
Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS), also called the
Ground Collision Avoidance System (GCAS), provides aural
and visual warnings of an impending ground collision based
on an aircraft's actual dynamics and recovery capability.
GPWS
prevents the incidence of Controlled Flight Into Terrain
(CFIT) accidents, which generally involve highly trained
pilots who inadvertently fly into the ground or water in
a moment of fatigue, disorientation or boredom. CFITs happen
to military pilots (rotary and fixed wing) more than a dozen
times a year despite excellent training.
The
system provides CFIT warnings in low altitudes without false
or nuisance alarms. It is applicable to a wide variety of
fixed wing and rotary aircraft, and uses standard sensors
available onboard DoD aircraft - which means no costly retrofits.
GPWS is:
-
Highly accurate and reliable
-
Compatible with all military and commercial aircraft,
fixed or rotary wing
-
Optimized for highly dynamic, low-level tactical flight
environments
-
Extensively tested and evaluated
-
Easy to maintain at a low-cost to the user
Our
Software Approach
Cubic uses a dynamic, predictive algorithm which performs
real-time calculations of the state of aircraft motion
vectors. This algorithm is tailored to pilot/aircraft
reaction time, aircraft performance capabilities and the
installed avionics suite.
Dynamic-Predictive
Algorithm vs. Envelope Solution
Envelope-based
systems do not directly predict terrain impact. They provide
warnings based on the actual penetration of a predetermined,
unsafe flight envelope. Thus, each mission profile requires
predetermined, static warning criteria for each envelope
to be used. This results in a complex patchwork of warning
envelopes, increasing both the margin for error and potential
for nuisance warnings with each change.
See
Operational
Concept/Technical Specifications for more
details.
