Concurrent under water

Concurrent Computer Corporation's Integrated Solutions Division (ISD) has announced that its Australian subsidiary has delivered high-performance iHawk multiprocessor systems to Raytheon Australia in New South Wales, a subsidiary of Raytheon Company.

The quad-CPU iHawk systems running Concurrent's RedHawk Linux will be used in the development of the Replacement Combat System (RCS) for the Royal Australian Navy's Collins Class submarines.

The iHawk systems will provide hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation of time-critical interfaces between the MK-2 system and the existing sensor suite on board the submarines. Concurrent's RedHawk Linux real-time operating system is a key component of the solution.

The Collins Class submarine is a conventionally powered, long-range naval vessel designed specifically to provide the Royal Australian Navy with improved operational effectiveness, rapid response time, mission flexibility and reduced crew requirements. The RCS program will equip Collins Class submarines with the same combat control system as the US Navy's Los Angeles and Trident Class.

Raytheon selected the Concurrent iHawk with RedHawk Linux because of its ability to respond to the strict timing requirements of the sensor interfaces. To develop a complete simulation of the interfaces, Raytheon ordered six iHawk systems each with 20 RS-422 ports and four gigabit ethernet interfaces. Raytheon is also in the process of selecting a VME single-board-computer to be used to implement the interfaces on the submarines.