Moog’s third-generation lightweight Moog-FTS Stores Management System (SMS) is flying with the Bell 407GT and the MD530G and can be adapted easily to other platforms, said Jason Reichard, Moog business unit director. Reichard said that the main advantages of the new system are its lower cost, much lighter weight and ease of installation across a variety of platforms including helicopter, fixed-wing, marine and land. This makes it ideally suited for customers, such as coast guards, which use common weapons across a variety of platforms.

The SMS is composed of three components: a stores management computer (SMC), stores control panel (SCP) and stores interface units (SIU). It can be customized to individual user requirements, including specific weapons combinations. The SMC can manage up to seven stores stations. The SCP has a customizable control interface for system power, fuze arming and jettison and is NVG-compatible. The SIU is also customizable and stores interfaces to a variety of gun, rocket, and missile launchers and bomb-release units.

The system can be moved across platforms with simple software changes. The SMS can be installed in any vehicle that has been pre-wired, including helicopters, in less than an hour, Reichard said. Moog can deliver a custom system to a customer within 90 days and it can be exported to any customer that is approved for companion weapons systems such as Hellfire missiles. Moog can also work with customers to gain approvals for individual weapons systems, avionics and sensors connected to the system.