F-16 Cockpit Television Sensor (CTVS)

P/N 1291ML REQUIREMENTS DESCRIPTION F-16 CTVS System PURPOSE/DESCRIPTION We are conducting market research to identify potential sources that possess the expertise, capabilities, and experience to meet the requirement to provide a long-term sustainable camera system to support the F-16 fleet. The Government request technical data, drawings, training and test equipment needed to initiate organic maintenance OR a willingness to form a partnership for repairs to manage, maintain, and update system hardware/software as required. The contractor will be required to submit Recurring Engineering and/or Non-Recurring Engineering service estimate along with proposal when a solicitation is announce. The F-16 CTVS camera functions automatically over a wide range of illumination levels through the use of an automatic light controlled lens and an automatic electronic gain control system. The CTVS interfaces with the weapons release trigger so that an event mark appears mixed in with the video output signal at the time the second detent on the weapons trigger is activated. The CTVS contains a built-in-test (BIT) feature which checks a majority of the circuits and presents a go or no-go indication without the use of a TV monitor or other external equipment. The CTVS camera is mounted to the HUD (head-up display) and is focused at infinity and monitors outside the aircraft from the pilot's position in the cockpit. This view includes the aircrafts head-up display in which flight information is superimposed on the view outside the aircraft. The CTVS must interface with the remote Airborne Video Tape Recorder (AVTR) to capture the HUD display for playback and critique immediately after the completion of flight. The camera provides two independent 75 ohm video outputs which permit the camera to be easily operated with a display and an AVTR without using double 75 ohm terminations on the video line. The contractor must have the capabilities and technical expertise to produce camera views which can be recorded for playback on the ground. The contractor shall provide a camera system which will allow a F3I with F-16 C and D model aircraft without the need for aircraft modification(s) or change to aircraft software interfaces. As a minimum, the camera system must meet specifications and requirements In Accordance With (IAW) P/N 1291ML and associated subassemblies. Physical Description: The current F-16 CTVS assembly consists of two or three pieces: a Video Sensor Head (VSH) assembly mounted on an Electronics Unit (EU) and or adapter assembly. (1) VSH Assembly. The VSH assembly consists of a camera television lens mounted on a housing attached by a stem. The camera television lens consists of a lens hood assembly that holds the filter, and an auto-iris lens. The lens hood assembly screws into the auto-iris lens. The VSH assembly either slides into the EU assembly or can be connected to the EU via an electrical interface cable. The VSH contains the imaging portion of the camera system, and the peripheral circuits which drive and buffer it. It consists of a single printed circuit card plus a video sensor. The video sensor is a buried channel charge coupled device (CCD). The CCD is mounted to a thermoelectric device which controls its temperature so that it will be maintained within a prescribed window of 0 to 10 degrees Celsius as the ambient temperature varies from -55 to +55 Celsius. (2) EU Assembly. The EU assembly is a fairly L shaped unit. It has a recessed portion with a rectangular connector that accepts the VSH adapter assembly. The EU assembly consists of the base casting fastened to the housing by screws. A circular connector on the housing provides an interface with the aircraft. The EU contains the bulk of the system circuitry. It consists of the sync generator card, the video processor card, and the power supply. The sync generator card provides voltage regulation for the power supply and timing signals for the VSH card. It provides TV timing, video processor timing, bit rate timing line/field rate timing, and built-in-test timing. In addition, it contains the comp sync circuitry necessary to synchronize the CTVS system to an external input. The video processor card contains video processing circuitry, and built-in-test circuitry. Additional circuitry controls the amount of light entering through the lens, and the temperature of the CCD. The power supply provides unregulated +5V, +12V, -12V, +20V and +5V voltages to the sync generator for distribution to the rest of the system.