McDonnell Douglas has already created a preliminary POSIX-compliant infrastructure for its mission processing software using Green Hills' MULTI Environment and optimizing C++ compiler. Green Hills' C++ and Ada95 software development tools have also been used to design the high-level weapons, sensor, display and other flight software modules that utilize the services of this infrastructure.

The new platform, together with a navigation module written in C++, has already been demonstrated in test flights using the AV-8B Harrier II, F-15 Eagle, and F/A-18 Hornet. The next demonstration flight, planned for March 18 at the Naval Air Warfare Center in China Lake, will be conducted as part of the Open Systems Ada Technology (OSAT) program, which is cosponsored by the Ada Joint Task Force. In this demonstration, which will include a practice bomb drop, the navigation module will be tested with a new Air-to- Ground ballistics module written in Ada95. The software will fly on an AV-8B Harrier equipped with a PowerPC-based mission computer running the VxWorks operating system.

"Traditionally," explains McDonnell Douglas Program Manager Don Winter, "McDonnell Douglas has developed custom mission computers for each of its tactical fighters. Now, we are exploring a new approach that will enable us to better leverage our investment in software development across multiple aircraft."

The basic strategy is to identify core functions for which there is a high degree of commonality among aircraft, and then provide a hardware-independent software platform for hosting flight software modules that implement those functions. This approach is expected to reduce overall flight software development costs, and make the software easier to maintain and upgrade. It should also simplify software porting, which will make it easier to exploit new high- performance COTS hardware.

Said Dan O'Dowd, Green Hill's president, "Our MULTI Development Environment and optimizing compilers dovetail well with McDonnell Douglas' plans to produce an open hardware-independent platform. Our development tools and compilers are available for most major CPUs and real-time operating systems. As a result, flight software modules developed using Green Hills tools can be readily moved to virtually any hardware and run-time environment."

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