Story ID: 
Genesys Certifies Black Hawk Avionics Suite
By: Matt Thurber
Caption: The FAA has approved an STC for a Genesys Aerosystems avionics suite upgrade for the Black Hawk helicopter.
Word Count: 232
A panel full of Genesys Aerosystems avionics has received FAA supplemental type certificate (STC) approval on Sikorsky UH-60A and EH-60A Black Hawk helicopters. Operators can choose between a fully integrated avionics suite or modular “building block” options to match budget constraints while paving a path to future upgrades.

The upgrade’s chief benefit is the replacement of older electromechanical instruments, which tend to be less reliable and more costly to repair, with Genesys NVG-compatible, MIL-STD IDU-680 displays, which include a digital attitude/heading reference system. 

Genesys's full package can replace all instruments in the Black Hawk, including engine gauges. A typical Black Hawk installation would include four displays in portrait layout, a digital three-axis autopilot, and radios. 

These displays offer synthetic vision, HTAWS, georeferenced hover vector, and Genesys’s Open Architecture System Integration Symbology special mission systems interface. Also included is dual GPS SBAS navigation, which supports modern approach procedures, according to Genesys, “including the new point in space helicopter approaches, U.S. Coast Guard search and rescue patterns, and user-defined precision approaches.” Engine instruments on the new displays include a quadruple-redundant engine indication and crew alerting system. 

The Genesys Digital Radios feature VHF com with optional 118 to 156-MHz frequency range, 25 or 8.33-kHz channelization, and 16 or 25-watt transmit power. Another option for the GDR is embedded UHF 225 to 400-MHz com.