Universal Avionics Systems Corporation, also known as Universal Avionics, is an international company headquartered in

Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

in the United States. It primarily focuses on

flight management system A flight management system (FMS) is a fundamental component of a modern airliner's avionics. An FMS is a specialized computer system that automates a wide variety of in-flight tasks, reducing the workload on the flight crew to the point that mod ...

s (FMS) and cockpit instrument displays for private, business, and commercial

aircraft An aircraft ( aircraft) is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, i ...

. The company has domestic offices in

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, and overseas offices in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

History

Universal Avionics was founded in 1981 by Hubert L. Naimer. Its first FMS was introduced in 1982. In 1999, Universal Avionics started its Instrument Division with the purchase of a line of flat panel integrated displays from Avionic Displays Corporation of Norcross,

. On September 12, 2004, Hubert L. Naimer died and his son Joachim L. Naimer assumed the position of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

. On September 25, 2007, the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...

(FAA) gave TSO approval to Universal's

WAAS The Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) is an air navigation aid developed by the Federal Aviation Administration to augment the Global Positioning System (GPS), with the goal of improving its accuracy, integrity, and availability. Essenti ...

SBAS Augmentation of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) is a method of improving the navigation system's attributes, such as precision, reliability, and availability, through the integration of external information into the calculation process. ...

enabled Flight Management Systems. It was the first FMS to be certified for WAAS LPV. In March 2018 it was announced that the Naimer family was selling the company to Israel's

Elbit Systems Elbit Systems Ltd. is an Israel-based international military technology company and defense contractor. Founded in 1966 by Elron, Elbit Systems is the primary provider of the Israeli military's land-based equipment and unmanned aerial v ...

; the sale was completed the following month. Following the acquisition Universal Avionics will continue to operate, with the same management and workforce and under the same name, as a wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary of Elbit Systems of America.

Products

Flight Management Systems

Universal has been offering the UNS-1 line of Flight Management Systems since 1982.

Synthetic Vision

Universal offers the Vision-1 Synthetic Vision (SVS) System. The Vision-1 was the first SVS product certified for Part 25 aircraft.

Terrain Awareness and Warning System

Universal offers a

Terrain Awareness and Warning System In aviation, a terrain awareness and warning system (TAWS) is generally an on-board system aimed at preventing unintentional impacts with the ground, termed "controlled flight into terrain" accidents, or CFIT.Federal Aviation AdministrationInsta ...

(TAWS) with a 3D perspective mode.

Flat Panel Integrated Displays

Universal offers Flat Panel Integrated Displays.

Communications Management Units

Universal offers the 1 MCU UniLink CMU (Communication Management Unit) with or without a built-in VDR ( VHF Data Radio). The UniLink CMU is capable of operating in 25 kHz and 8.333 kHz channel spacing environments and operating as part of the

ACARS In aviation, ACARS (; an acronym for Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System) is a digital data communication system for transmission of short messages between aircraft and ground stations via airband radio or satellite. The proto ...

data network.

References

{{reflist Companies based in Tucson, Arizona Electronics companies of the United States Companies established in 1981 Electronic design Avionics companies