Aerial Reconnaissance System

VISTA Controls Uses PT’s IPnexus Switch In Global Hawk Aerial Reconnaissance System

VISTA Controls, a Curtiss-Wright company and leading manufacturer of mission-critical systems for military and severe environment applications, is using PT’s IPnexus CPC5400 Embedded Gigabit Ethernet Switch in the Sensor Management Unit (SMU), designed for Northrop Grumman's Global Hawk Unmanned Aerial Reconnaissance System.

Northrop Grumman is prime contractor to the U.S. Air Force for the Global Hawk program. The Global Hawk system provides near-real-time imagery of large geographical areas with pinpoint accuracy to give military decision-makers the most current information about enemy location, resources and personnel. The VISTA Controls SMU will provide a common interface between sensor payloads and all aircraft systems, simplifying overall management and reconfiguration.

"Performance Technologies' IPnexus switch can withstand the rugged demands of this critical system and provides the high availability capabilities that always-on solutions require," said VISTA Controls' General Manager, David Dietz. "We chose Performance Technologies because of its innovation and expertise with open-standards, packet-based products."