What different aircraft would the technology be put on?
Tuttle: The program is just developing the technology and providing options. What aircraft would it be on if they ever mandate it? It’s up to Congress and the administration to decide the mix. But it has to fit on passenger or cargo aircraft. There are a little under 600 U.S. passenger widebodies and about 3,000 U.S. narrowbodies and widebodies. If you include cargo, it’s like 5,000. Avionics: What about regional aircraft? Tuttle: Our requirement was focused on narrowbody and widebody aircraft. In Phase 2, however, we did ask each contractor to do a preliminary assessment of the applicability of their designs to regional aircraft. They looked at issues such as electrical loads, structure and aerodynamic effects. Our assessment was that the equipment could potentially be integrated onto the aircraft as distributed, but not podded, systems. There are still a lot of unknowns regarding the applicability of directed infrared countermeasures [DIRCM] technology. Phase 3 is just looking at nar
