September 30 - Aonix today said that Boeing has selected its real-time embedded virtual machine, Aonix PERC, for the Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems' (J-UCAS) X - 45C program.

A clean-room virtual machine expressly created for demanding embedded and real-time systems requiring J2SE support, Aonix PERC supports VxWorks 6.x, offers proven mission-critical reliability, and features the ability to guarantee compliance with real-time constraints, according to Aonix.

"A growing number of government and commercial integrators recognize the benefits of the Java language in meeting real-time embedded needs," said Kelvin Nilsen, Aonix CTO. "Aonix has developed a solid reputation for helping customers successfully design, implement and maintain high-quality real-time Java applications. Boeing's selection of PERC shows confidence in Java and its capabilities in solving large-scale networked applications with demanding real-time needs."

The J-UCAS program is a joint Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), U.S. Air Force and Navy effort to demonstrate the technical feasibility, usefulness and operational value of networked unmanned combat vehicles. J-UCAS will employ a Common Operating System.

Boeing began its unmanned combat aircraft program in 1998. The following year, DARPA and the U.S. Air Force chose Boeing to build two X-45A air vehicles and a mission control station under DARPA's Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle Advanced Technology Demonstration Program. Since that time, two Boeing-built X-45A's have flown 64 demonstrations at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.