CIE Components in Electronics
Supporting operations and survivability in the field, Raytheon UK’s 10-channel Power Switch Node is fully programmable, compact and lightweight
Raytheon UK has unveiled a new 10-channel Power Switch Node (PSN) in response to emerging in-field and operator requirements for military land vehicles.
Based on qualified in-service technology selected for the AJAX platform, soldiers in the field will benefit from greater power reliability – thanks to the use of firmware as opposed to software for essential mission-critical functions – and smarter vehicle power management. For instance, the PSN has an external shutdown and battle override capability.
“For land, sea and air applications, military platform power requirements are evolving at a pace,” said Brian Gallacher, head of vehicle systems at Raytheon UK’s Mission Critical Solutions. “There is a growing need for ‘smart’ power systems that are versatile, adaptable and easy to maintain, and which also provide better overall protection for the systems they power.”
Each of the PSN’s 10 channels can be programmed to support loads of up to 15A plus they can be configured for parallel operation in order to switch higher current loads. In addition, Raytheon UK’s proprietary solid-state fusing technology, ‘Smart Fusing’, is employed on all outputs. There is no need to replace traditional fuses or physically reset circuit breakers.
Suitable for use in any vehicle that uses MilCAN or JStd 1939 for inter-system communications, with Ethernet as an option, the 10-channel PSN is a ‘location aware’ Line Replaceable Unit (LRU). It can be pre-programmed for a number of different roles within a variety of vehicles, and will execute whichever programme corresponds to the vehicle within which it is installed and its rack location. This helps reduce the number of variants that would otherwise need to reside in the operator’s store inventory as well as reducing the logistics burden and improving mission availability.
Raytheon UK’s 10-channel PSN is compliant with Def Stans 00-35 (tracked vehicles), 59-411 Land Class A and 61-5 Part 5 Issue 6.
“The 10-channel PSN is another great milestone on our military and aerospace power roadmap,” said Gallacher. “It exemplifies how Raytheon is not only rising to industry’s challenges – with the provision of fit-for-purpose power management LRUs – but the company is also making great use of its power integration expertise, as being learned in the commercial aerospace sector with initiatives like the More Electric Aircraft.”
