The Navy’s Air Combat Electronics Program Office (PMA-209) welcomed a new program manager during a change of command and retirement ceremony June 15 at Patuxent River. 

Capt. Margaret “Maggie” Wilson, who retired after more than 27 years of service, transferred leadership to Capt. Jarrod Hair, who most recently served as chief of staff to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Air and Ground Programs. 

The Air Combat Electronics program office’s (PMA-209) Avionics Architecture Team (AAT) recently participated in the Embedded Tech Trends media forum in Chandler, Arizona where AAT members represented NAVAIR on a panel to promote the completion of the Hardware Open Systems Technology (HOST) 5.0 technical standard.  

Rear Adm. John Dougherty recognized Air Combat Electronics program office’s (PMA-209) John Cooke with an individual NAWCAD Commander’s Award for system lifecycle support in a ceremony held 25 Jan.   

“This year you demonstrated boldness, creativity and leadership that powered our organization in delivering enhanced capability, availability, affordability and safety,” said Dougherty. “You have set the bar high, and I thank you for all of your hard work. Across the board, our winners accomplished so much this year.”   

The Air Combat Electronics program office (PMA-209) recently participated in the Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE) and Sensor Open Systems Architecture (SOSA) consortium exposition in Dayton, Ohio. The Avionics Architecture Team (AAT) for PMA-209 demonstrated several of its Open Architecture (OA) projects that are reducing software integration time and maintenance costs for the Fleet.  

The Open Group Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE) Consortium elected Sheila Fortner and Hebin Luan, members of the Air Combat Electronics program office (PMA-209), as the new vice chairs of the  Business Working Group and Technical Working Group, respectively. 

The Navy’s Air Combat Electronics program office (PMA-209) recently completed the first test flight of the T-45 trainer aircraft’s Mission Computer Alternative (MCA) which is intended to improve readiness for the legacy system.

PMA-209 collaborated with the Naval Undergraduate Flight Training Systems program office (PMA-273), which manages the T-45 aircraft, and Air Test Evaluation Squadron (VX) 23 to execute the March 30 flight at Patuxent River and test out the design replacement for the existing Mission Display Processer.

NAVAIR Commander Vice Adm. Carl Chebi recognized the Air Combat Electronics program office (PMA-209) Readiness Cell team with a NAVAIR Commander’s Award for most impactful Readiness Control Board team April 20 during the Commander’s Awards ceremony at Patuxent River.

Chebi said the PMA-209 Readiness Cell’s analytical rigor and data-driven decision making resulted in a 30 percent increase in readiness across Degrader Action Cell (DAC) efforts and helped achieve a mission capable rate of 92 percent across PMA-209 managed systems.

The Navy’s Air Combat Electronics program office (PMA-209) avionics architecture team is creating an instructional video series providing answers to frequently asked questions and other insights on the topic of open systems conformance testing. As part of the Navy’s broader initiative to enhance capability and increase affordability, increasing understanding of open systems conformance testing advances the interoperability open systems provide.

The Open Group Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE) Consortium elected Amaka Chidozie, a member of the Air Combat Electronics program office (PMA-209), as the new business working group vice chair and the only Navy representative.

The Navy celebrated the delivery of ARC-210 airborne radio number 50,000 to the fleet on 5 April.

The ARC-210 airborne radio is the most widely fielded tactical airborne radio in the world, operating on more than 200 platform variants worldwide in over 50 countries. The newest version of the radio brings the latest encryption and anti-jam technologies to the warfighter.

The Air Combat Electronics program office (PMA-209) effectively manages the ARC-210 program and celebrated this milestone with longtime industry partner Collins Aerospace, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.