USCG HU=25A/GPS Integration

Tsung-hsun Wu and Robert W. Tafel

Abstract:	The United States Coast Guard (USCG)HU-2SA aircraft was designed primarily for medium range search (MRS) and rescue operations. Secondary USCG mission roles were patrol and observation, passenger transport, law enforcement, environmental protection and marine science activities. It was built by Avionics Marcel Dassault Breguet, and is known by various names such as “Falcon”, “Guardian”, and is also known as “MRS” for its primary mission. The MRS avionics system, developed and installed by the Rockwell International-Collins Division, Cedar Rapids, Iowa included a cockpit management system and an area navigation system (RNAV). The RNAV was the primary flight navigator to support the HU-25A aircraft missions. Although several RNAV reversionary modes existed, operations were degraded in areas of marginal LORAN coverage and out of VOR/DME range (e.g., the entire Carribean Sea). To overcome this deficiency, the USCG identified a need for Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment to obtain a worldwide, accurate navigation capability that would free the MRS from reliance on land-based or ship-based radio navigation aids. The Naval Air Development Center (NADC) was designated by the USCG to be the lead technical agent for the integration of GPS on MRS. With a primary objective of maintaining or improving current accuracy and capability globally while fully utilizing the GPS receiver as a stand- alone reversionary navigator, NADC specified and managed the design, development, installation, testing and evaluation of the integration of GPS user equipment (UE) on board the HU-25A MRS aircraft. With the Collins Government Avionics Division (CGAD) as the integration contractor, the integration was completed and verified by bench, ramp and flight tests. This effort turned out to be the first GPS integration on any fued-wing aircraft. This paper provides, in brief, information of the original HU-2SA avionics system followed by a description of the integration of the GPS UE, including antenna, onto the HU-2SA aircraft. Fmally, this paper summarizes the results of tests conducted during various phases of the integration which demonstated the advantages of integrating GPS into MRS avionics system.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 4th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 1991) September 11 - 13, 1991 Albuquerque, NM
Pages:	117 - 128
Cite this article:	Wu, Tsung-hsun, Tafel, Robert W., "USCG HU=25A/GPS Integration," Proceedings of the 4th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 1991), Albuquerque, NM, September 1991, pp. 117-128.
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