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    Curtiss-Wright Selected to Provide Ultra Small Form Factor Flight Computer and Ethernet Switch for New All-Electric Air Taxi

    Sept. 3, 2020
    Related To: Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions

    Curtiss-Wright’s Defense Solutions division, a proven leading supplier of rugged ultra-small form factor (USFF) processing and networking solutions, announced that it was awarded a contract to provide an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft developer with a rugged avionics system and networking solutions for use on the company’s new aircraft. The fully electric fixed-wing aircraft, designed to function as a piloted urban air taxi, will use Curtiss-Wright flight control computer and vehicle Ethernet switch solutions during the flight test stage of the new aircraft’s development. Curtiss-Wright USFF electronic subsystems, which are ideal for use on size, weight, power and cost (SWaP-C) constrained airborne platforms, have previously been selected for use on multiple eVTOL development programs in addition to this most recent design win.

    Under the contract, Curtiss-Wright is supplying the customer with its fully rugged Parvus DuraCOR 311, a USFF embedded computer/controller based on a low-power quad-core Intel Atom E3845 (Bay Trail-I) processor, and the Parvus DuraNET 20-11, a USFF 8-port Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) switch. Both products are optimized for extremely demanding SWaP-C applications, such as space-constrained rotorcraft and unmanned airborne platforms, which are especially sensitive to additional weight that can limit flight duration and/or distance. The DuraCOR 311 measures less than 40 in³ in volume and weighs less than 1.5 lb, while the “pocket-sized” DuraNET 20-11 measures only 10 in3 in volume, and weighs only 0.5 lb.

    Under the contract, deliveries are scheduled to begin in September 2020.

    "We are very pleased to be selected to support this exciting new eVTOL aircraft program with our industry-leading, ultra-small processing and networking avionics solutions,” said Lynn Bamford, President, Defense and Power Segments. “With a legacy that began with famed aviation pioneers, the Wright brothers and Glenn Curtiss, we look forward to the development of this new all-electric aircraft for which our extremely compact, highly rugged, and cost-effective electronic subsystems are ideally suited.”

    Curtiss-Wright designs and manufactures the integrated system products covered by this contract at its Salt Lake City, Utah facility.