Rockwell Collins completes CRIIS production milestone

Rockwell Collins recently completed the Production Readiness Review (PRR) for Common Range Integrated Instrumentation System (CRIIS), paving the way for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to award Production Lot 1. The PRR was done in cooperation with the Test Resource Management Center (TRMC) and CRIIS System Program Office (SPO) at Eglin Air Force Base.

Rockwell Collins is the prime contractor and systems integrator for the next-generation military test range system that will replace the Advanced Range Data System (ARDS) currently in use at major U.S. military test ranges. CRIIS equipment will support a variety of platforms, including advanced fifth-generation aircraft, and implements the DoD’s vision of common test and training infrastructure for improved operational realism.

The PRR milestone included a review of Rockwell Collins’ manufacturing readiness status, quality management system and production planning capabilities to assure schedule, performance and cost requirements will be achieved in the upcoming Production phase, which will be performed at Rockwell Collins facilities in Richardson, Texas and Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

The CRIIS program fulfills critical DoD requirements to provide Time, Space, Position Information (TSPI), additional platform test data, and employs a more robust, spectrally efficient data link including multiple independent levels of security (MILS). Formal contractor and government testing of the system was conducted over several years at the Eastern Iowa Test Range (EITF – comprised of Rockwell Collins facilities), Patuxent River NAS and Eglin AFB. EITF has also been used extensively for LVC test and training experiments and demonstrations.

The CRIIS system will be initially fielded at seven major ranges: Eglin AFB, Nellis AFB, Edwards AFB, NAS Patuxent River, NAS Pt. Mugu, NAWS China Lake and White Sands Missile Range. CRIIS provides for secure range-to-range data exchange and handoff, so that an aircraft configured and starting a mission on one range can seamlessly join the network on another range to complete the mission. To further enhance operational test and training instrumentation capabilities, the CRIIS SPO and Rockwell Collins recently signed a 5-year, $83 million ID/IQ contract to support development of alternate configurations and system enhancements.