Spotlight Q&A
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Steve Mensh is senior vice president and general manager of Textron Systems’ Electronic Systems and Geospatial Solutions businesses, as well as a member of the Textron Systems Executive Leadership Team. As the leader of Electronic Systems and Geospatial Solutions, he sets the strategic path for the business, supervises the operational execution of new programs and products and oversees all aspects of site infrastructure. Prior to assuming his current position, Mensh was vice president of programs, with responsibilities ranging from management of personnel and investment resources to proposal and research activities. Before joining Textron Systems, Mensh supported Aeronautical Radio Incorporated (ARINC) as technical director, while concurrently serving as program director, responsible for growing the company’s aviation and avionics modernization business. He began his career at the company as an electronics engineer. Mensh earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from Loyola University Maryland and has continued his education through several courses in management and business development, including Textron’s Senior Executive Leadership Program at Duke University and the Executive Leadership Program at the Thunderbird School of Global Management.
JED: Textron Systems’ A2PATS has made a significant impact in the threat simulation market. What has made it such a successful program for Textron, and what does the future A2PATS roadmap look like in terms of new features and capabilities?
Mensh: Our modular, scalable hardware approach to EW simulation is based on a core software operating system. We tailor our solution to each customer using an advanced hardware application based on a common set of components. This model allows us to rapidly produce hardware and tailor our common software to meet customer schedules.
In 2023, we will deliver an A2PATS system with combined Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) and Communications Intelligence (COMINT) capabilities to an international customer. These advanced capabilities are generated using our direct port architecture SSI RF source. Our system not only produces RF, but it is also able to receive RF and incorporate the RF and output with the A2PATS signals to the unit under test.
From the beginning, Textron Systems has pushed the state-of-the-art limits of EW Simulation technology. The A2PATS was modular and scalable long before that was the customer requirement, and we are continuously updating and upgrading our capabilities to match the needs of the test community across the T&E Enterprise. More and more, testing is being performed in lab/chamber environments. By providing the ability to accurately present a complex and dense environment to systems under test (SUT), Textron enables the Warfighters to adequately test their systems.
We have a number of initiatives on our roadmap, including cognitive EW capabilities, expanded requirement ranges and multispectral test capabilities. Many of these capabilities already exist in the A2PATS product line, but as technology and threat complexity continue to increase, we are adding new capabilities to enhance our systems. Multispectral test capability is a good example. We can now do ELINT, COMINT, Integrated IADS and EO/IR testing using a single A2PATS engine, presenting a totally coherent virtual battlespace to the SUT.
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