Airbus Demonstrates C295 FITS Mission System Operated by Ground-Based Crews

Airbus has successfully concluded a flight test campaign featuring a new capability for the C295 FITS mission system (COMMOMISS), which enables it to be remotely operated by ground-based crews. Carried out in April over the south of Spain, the campaign covered four flights and involved an Airbus C295 Intelligence Surveillance Recognition (ISR) testbed equipped with a Collins avionics package.

The aircraft performed standard maritime patrol missions with all sensors controlled in near real-time by a mission operator based at a ground station at Airbus’ Getafe site. Sensor control was successfully handed over to the ground control station, with different surveillance tasks, including Electro-Optical/Infra-Red (EO/IR) pointing control and radar management, performed by the ground crew using the Ka-band SATCOM. During the tests, the ground operator’s situational awareness was complete, sharing the same set of tools and apps available in the onboard Fully Integrated Tactical System (FITS) workstations, transforming the COMMOMISS ground station into an effective additional operator’s node.

COMMOMISS will pave the future of airborne tactical mission systems, allowing a harmonized mission system architecture, human-machine interface (HMI), and concept of operations (CONOPS) for both manned and unmanned air vehicles, as well as fixed-wing and rotatory wing aircraft. It supports seamless integration into the overall system of systems, providing global situational awareness to operators and contributing to the generation of the Common Operational Picture (COP) in the context of ISR missions.

The hardware required to implement this new capability is available for new customers interested in the C295 ISR, which means that the capacities of the COMMOMISS could be available for any customer from now on, either as a catalog option or as growth potential.