A Symbol of Excellence in Aviation

AvRID


Aviation Research, Indigenization & Development


The office of DG AvRID has been established to transform into reality the Air Staff vision as stated above, with the long-term goal of developing our own fifth generation fighter aircraft (FGFA). Development of FGFA would be a major national program that would entail massive amount of work; not all of which may possibly be carried out within PAC, or even within Pakistan. Such large-scale development requires synergetic efforts from a number of industrial (public & private) and academic organizations to fulfill the enormous task. These efforts by themselves will enable development of technologies that will find applications in a number of other systems. The guiding motto will be “cooperation within, competition outside”.


In order to manage an engineering development program of this magnitude, an effective system covering the technical and management aspects needs to be put in place. A sound system engineering approach will have to be followed to ensure the technical health of the program backed by an equally sound project management effort to support it. As the development of FGFA is a major program, it will have to be divided into a number of projects, for which separate project teams will have to be formed. One team would be working on core capabilities development, another on aircraft development, one on avionics development, yet another on facilities development, one on human resource development and so on. There would be specialist teams for development of each system. Depending on the complexity of the systems, these teams would vary in the nature and extent of multi-disciplines. Some teams will be co-located while others would operate across different organizations. Similarly, certain functions will be performed by dedicated project teams while others by matrix teams.


Engineering Management & Support (EMS).


An elaborate plan for development of FGFA and associated technological capabilities will be prepared by DG AvRID. The plan will have to define the different projects within the program and define project teams and their plans in consultation with specialist resource personnel and organizations. The office would be responsible to manage the resources, schedules, risks and stakeholders throughout the program. It would also be responsible for establishing formal system engineering, configuration management and quality assurance processes within the participating teams and organizations. In order to carry out these functions, EMS activities will have to be appropriately organized within an EMS group in DG AvRID Secretariat and manned by qualified personnel: -


(a) Academia Industry Collaboration Office (AICO). For optimum utilization of resources available within academia and industry of the country and abroad.


(b) Systems Engineering Processes Office (SEPO). For training and audit of systems engineering and configuration management processes within participating organizations.


(c) Capability Development Office (CDO). For planning, assisting and tracking capability development encompassing facilities, technology and human resource.


(d) Quality Assurance and Certification Office (QACO). For training and audit of quality assurance and certification standards within participating organizations.


(e) Program Plans Office (PPO). For overall planning, budgeting and resource allocation.


(f) Program Execution Office (PEO). For program execution.


The office of DG AvRID will pursue an active engagement with the public and private sector for expanding the industrial base of the country to meet aviation requirements of Pakistan and to venture into the global aviation market for sustainable technical and economic growth. It will foster international collaboration and linkages to address critical technological gaps. It will also pursue HEC and higher education institutes to ensure that training needs in technologies critical to aviation industry are adequately identified and addressed. It will work with CAE, AU, NUST, IST and other institutes for utilization of their researchers, students, labs and alumni for conducting R&D in appropriate areas. The office will carry out its tasks through the following elements that report to it directly. Additional elements may be added if and when required.


Project AZM.


This project aims to develop a fifth-generation fighter aircraft as per ASR requirements. As mentioned earlier, this is a major undertaking that will require synergetic participation of a large number of organizations and stakeholders. A phased but aggressive approach will be followed to overcome technical challenges as soon as they are identified. A number of challenges like materials, propulsion, sensors, mission systems etc. are already known and risk mitigation plans are being worked out. The strategy is to keep focus of the FGFA team on aircraft development while other elements of AvRID focus on providing the required technologies and systems for project success.


Aviation Design Institute (AvDI).


This institute has been established to develop the core multidisciplinary technologies required for any advanced air vehicle. It is envisaged to bring together experts with varied backgrounds (Aero, Elects, Wpns) and specialties (both Aerospace & Avionics) to work on areas like aerodynamics, antennas, fly-by-wire, payloads, sensor fusion, stealth, structures, etc. The institute undertakes projects that provide solutions in the immediate and short term and in doing so contribute to developing technologies for medium and long-term product development projects like FGF.


Mission Electronics Design Institute (MEDI).


This institute will develop critical technologies like high performance computing boards, advanced avionics interfaces etc. The technologies will be used for design & development of mission computers, flight control computers, etc. Considering the fast pace of development in the field of electronics leading to early obsolescence and the huge amount of data crunching onboard the FGFA, considerable challenges will have to be overcome.


Aero Structures Design Institute (ASDI).


This institute will be responsible for design and analysis of aero structures, including Damage Tolerance Analysis (DTA). It will also interact with the local industry and academia for identifying and developing materials required for aerospace related applications.


Advanced Technologies Centre (ATC).


This Centre will form the PAF element of the Faculty of Aerospace and Aviation Campus AU Kamra and will focus on MS and PhD programs in Aerospace and Avionics disciplines. These programs, in coordination with CAE and other institutes will provide the necessary human resource for programs like FGFA. They will also assist in setting up labs in critical areas and carry out focused research. Short courses in relevant areas will also be arranged.


Flight Test Centre (FTC).


The capability to carry out flight testing of developed systems and platforms will be eventually consolidated into a dedicated flight test Centre. It will assist and coordinate flight testing activities with customers. It would develop the procedures and protocols for flight testing and certification in coordination with development teams and certification authorities, as applicable.