Case Study: Rugged Mobile Computer Keeps Army Black Hawks On Mission

The U.S. Army's Black Hawk helicopters operate in the rugged environments of Iraq and Afghanistan, where they routinely encounter harsh temperatures, altitude, and dust. Lots of dust. The ARMOR C12 rugged convertible notebook computer, a commercially available unit from DRS Technologies, helps support a comprehensive program to keep the Black Hawks flying for air assault, air cavalry, and medical evacuation units.

Goodrich Corporation's Vehicle Health Management System records data on the entire helicopter mechanical drive train from the engines to the rotor system. "It records everything that happens on the aircraft – all instrumentation displayed in the cockpit as well as information from health sensors located throughout the helicopter," explains Al Morris, Goodrich IT Lead for Army Programs.

ARMOR C12 rugged convertible notebooks are a critical link in retrieving data from the aircraft for later analysis. "When the guys come in from a mission they download all that information into the database on the ARMOR computer, then the data is replicated to the servers," says Morris.

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