Navy Turns to Off-the-Shelf Tablet for CH-53E Panel Upgrade

The system is the first fully integrated, hard-mounted commercial tablet to be used as a primary mission display on a naval aircraft.

Kimberly Johnson

Thursday, February 08, 2024 at 04:27 PM ET

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Key Takeaways:

The U.S. Navy is upgrading CH-53 Super Stallion helicopters with off-the-shelf tablets, known as Mission Data Extender (MDE), for their primary mission displays.
This marks the first fully integrated, hard-mounted commercial tablet used as a primary mission display on a naval aircraft.
The MDE system addresses reliability issues of the aging legacy displays and significantly reduces costs, providing the same capabilities at less than one-third the price of a traditional upgrade.
The upgrade promotes open architecture, offers a Wi-Fi-based display, and enhances interoperability for mission planning.

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The Navy is upgrading display panels in CH-53 Super Stallion heavy-lift helicopters with off-the-shelf tablets—a solution it says saves both time and money.

Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) began installing the system, dubbed Mission Data Extender (MDE), in December and said it represents the first fully integrated, hard-mounted commercial tablet to be used as a primary mission display on a naval aircraft.