As aviation seeks to integrate a growing range of technologies, including in the safety field, it needs to account for the evolution of the supporting stacks behind those technologies — in the flight deck, elsewhere in the aircraft, and on the ground — as well as increasing cybersecurity threats, in order to ensure ongoing safety. We sat down with industry experts to learn more.
“The aviation industry relies on a sophisticated interplay of hardware and software technologies to ensure the safety, efficiency, and reliability of air travel,” Lisa Ventura, cybersecurity and technology specialist, founder of Cyber Security Unity, and a member of BCS, the chartered institute for IT, tells us. “At the hardware level, the backbone of aviation technology includes advanced avionics systems integrated into modern aircraft. These systems encompass a variety of electronic components that manage navigation, communication, and flight control. Flight Management Systems and autopilot systems are crucial software components that contribute to the automation of inflight tasks, allowing for precise navigation and operational efficiency.”
The current and previous generation of aircraft also feature increasingly informative and granular HUMS, or health and usage monitoring systems. These use a growing number of sensors and data analytics to monitor and report on the condition of numerous key aircraft components. This both improves failure reporting and enables predictive maintenance.
“Since 2019,” Ventura notes, “the aviation industry has witnessed significant advancements in both hardware and software technology stacks, ushering in a new era of efficiency, safety, and sustainability. On the hardware front, there has been a notable shift toward more advanced avionics systems in newly designed aircraft. Integrated modular avionics has become more prevalent, allowing for greater flexibility and scalability in avionics architecture. This modular approach enables easier updates and replacements of individual components, reducing maintenance costs and enhancing overall system reliability.”
On the software side, aviation is continuing to integrate predictive analytics into its tech stacks, enabling data-driven decisionmaking to an extent not previously possible. This has been especially visible in flight operations and maintenance, repair and overhaul activities, where big data analytics have enabled route optimisation, fuel efficiency improvements (and thus lower environmental impact) and predictive maintenance.
“Flight Management Systems and autopilot software have undergone refinements, incorporating machine learning algorithms for more adaptive and precise control,” Ventura continues. “Furthermore, the aviation sector has made strides in enhancing cybersecurity measures to safeguard critical systems and data, acknowledging the growing importance of protecting against evolving cyber threats in an increasingly interconnected aviation ecosystem. Overall, the post-2019 period has seen a convergence of hardware and software innovations that prioritise performance, safety, and environmental responsibility in the aviation industry.”
Within the flight deck, Lufthansa Systemss head of Lido Philipp Barzen tells us, much change recently has surrounded the evolution and integration of electronic flight bags, or EFBs, with an evolving technology stack.
“Our electronic flight bag applications are mainly focusing on the iOS platform and therefore mainly developed in Swift. We also provide Windows focused apps and Java is here the main development. Multi-platform developments, for example mapping engines for navigational charts are developed in C,” Barzen tells us. “Pilot applications are most of the time EFBs with touch screen. Clearly the market is dominated by iPads as platform. Only in the case of strong integration with an aircraft’s avionics — for example on the A380 or A350 — are Windows solutions superior.”
At the same time, Barzen notes, “integration in avionics for Class III is very much focused on the Windows platform, but airlines are using mainly iPad. We expect that this trend is continuing and iOS-embedded functions will be replicated from other use cases. Screen mirroring will arrive in the flight deck too. At the same time more standards for data exchange are required on the iOS platform — this was much easier on Windows.”
With much of the tech stack growing stable, the key languages here remain Swift, C and Java. The acceleration towards cloud-native applications, meanwhile, has driven growth in the requirements for reliable and robust data distribution.
Here, Barzen notes, “we are following a microservice architecture and using Angular, Java, Kubernetes, Docker, [and for the] cloud, Azure and Google.”
This enables — and indeed drives — interconnectedness between applications to play a stronger role, in terms of multiple apps on one device, in terms of between the devices that all flight crew members are using, and in terms of the avionics. At the same time, consolidation and integration of what can be a multi-app landscape for some airlines and in some flight decks is firmly on the radar.
More widely, there is substantial change ahead in the industry’s technology stacks, including with the development of new powerplant concepts like distributed propulsion, electric powertrains and hybrid-electric systems — both as generational upgrades for the aircraft of today and as new airframes for the advanced air mobility offerings of tomorrow. There is much work ahead to ensure the safe certification and then operation of these airframes, as well as their integration into the wider airspace system.
In addition, notes technologist Lisa Ventura, “the development of next-generation materials, such as advanced composites and lightweight alloys, will contribute to the design of more fuel-efficient and aerodynamically optimised aircraft. These materials not only enhance structural integrity but also reduce overall weight, leading to improved performance and reduced environmental impact.”
The growth of artificial intelligence and machine learning, too, will transform operations and particularly safety.
“AI algorithms will play a crucial role in optimising flight routes, predicting maintenance needs, and enhancing air traffic management,” Ventura says. “Autonomous systems, guided by sophisticated AI, may gradually find applications in certain flight operations, contributing to increased safety and operational efficiency.”
However, she notes, “as the industry embraces digital transformation, cybersecurity measures will evolve to counter new and sophisticated threats, safeguarding the interconnected networks and data that underpin the aviation infrastructure of the future. Overall, the future technology stacks in aviation are expected to be characterised by a convergence of sustainable hardware solutions and intelligent software applications that redefine the industry’s capabilities and standards.”
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