Military Embedded Systems

Leveraging metamaterials for radar designs, engineers at Echodyne are enhancing the capability of small radars for applications such a counter-UAS [uncrewed aircraft systems] in military applications. In this podcast with Tom Driscoll, Co-founder and CTO of Echodyne, he and I discuss how his team’s metamaterials electronically scanned array (MESA) radar system does thing that traditional active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar systems cannot, their unique business model, and how they leverage commercial-off-shelf (COT) components like Xilinx FPGAs.

The U.S. Navy’s Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) was an early adopter and supporter of the Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE) Technical Standard and is at the forefront of open architecture development and leveraging modular open systems approach strategies (MOSA) in Navy avionics applications. During the MOSA Summit & Expo I sat down with Capt. Jarrod Hair, U.S. Navy, PMA-209 Program Manager, where we covered how NAVAIR leverages MOSA initiatives like FACE, the challenges with data rights, and how the defense community – government and industry – is embracing MOSA. Along those lines, at the NAVAIR booth at the expo, Capt. Hair hosted keynote speaker Hon. Nickolas Guertin, where he led an interactive discussion elaborating on current MOSA efforts in his role as Director of Operational Test and Evaluation. Guertin is a White House nominee for Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, and Acquisition.

Edited excerpts of the interview are below.

Welcome to the 2023 SOSA Special Edition! Our third annual SOSA Special Edition highlights editorial content covering the SOSA Technical Standard from the pages and website of Military Embedded Systems magazine, as well as the products aligned and conformant to the standard – all put together exclusively by our staff.

Read all about it in the 2023 SOSA Special Edition!

Many questions on open architecture initiatives and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) modular open systems approach (MOSA) mandate were being floated to U.S. embedded hardware and software suppliers at the DSEI 2023 show in London in September.

Open architecture approaches like the Sensor Open Systems Architecture (SOSA) Technical Standard are changing the way defense electronics designers build tomorrow’s military platforms. SOSA’s impact is felt within the electronic warfare (EW) community as requirements for the products based on the standard become more prevalent riding the modular open systems approach (MOSA) wave within the DoD.

WASHINGTON. During a briefing at the AUSA 2023 Annual Meeting, officials from the Sensor Open Systems Architecture (SOSA) Consortium gave an update on the SOSA Technical Standard conformance process and announced greater participation from military program managers within the standardization process.

YUMA PROVING GROUND, Arizona. A record for longest indirect fire test of a ramjet-powered artillery projectile was set by a team from Nammo and Boeing alongside U.S. Army officials — when firing a Ramjet 155 munition from a 58-caliber Extended Range Cannon Artillery (ERCA) at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona. The test advances development efforts for the Army’s top modernization priority, Long Range Precision Fires.

ST. LOUIS. Emerson officials announced that the company has closed its acquisition of automated, military and commercial test and measurement system provider NI, at an equity value of $8.2 billion. NI will now become a segment within Emerson called Test & Measurement and will be consolidated into the Emerson Software and Control group. The Test & Measurement business will still be headquartered in Austin, Texas. NI reported $1.66 billion in 2022 revenue.

MELBOURNE, Fla., Oct. 9, 2023 — L3Harris Technologies Leidos, and MAG Aerospace joined hands for the U.S. Army’s High Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System (HADES) program. The companies plan to deploy a fleet of aerial intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft to gather relevant and reliable operational intelligence.

WHITE SANDS, New Mexico. Raytheon’ Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor, met technical and performance milestones while completing Contractor Verification Testing at the U.S. Army's White Sands Missile Range. Testing demonstrated how effective the radar's design and performance would be against real and simulated threats.

LONDON. It's been four years since I was last here, having missed the first event post-COVID in 2021, but I found this year’s DSEI the best one I’ve attended in terms of activity among embedded electronics suppliers, success in terms of our daily newsletter from the show, and the most smooth experience I’ve ever had in terms of getting to and from the show each day.

LONDON. Orbit Communications Systems announced its Multi-Purpose Terminals (MPT) for SATCOM communication for unmanned surface vehicles and small vessels at DSEI 2023, this week in London.

LONDON. Demand for secure encryption on data links, reduced size, weight, and power SWaP) requirements, open architecture modularity, flavor inquiries on defense technology at DSEI 2023.

LONDON. BAE Systems selected Collins Aerospace to provide the Large Area Display technology for cockpits of future Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft. BAE Systems engineers will use the ultra-high-definition Large Area Display (LAD) as part of its rapid capability development program, Project Medulla, which sees it investing in future technologies for use across its combat air portfolio, including Eurofighter Typhoon.

LONDON. Many questions on open architecture initiatives and the Department of Defense (DoD) modular open systems approach (MOSA) mandate were being floated to U.S. embedded hardware and software suppliers at DSEI in London this week. So, over dinner last night, I asked Chip Downing, Outreach Committee Co-chair of the Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE) Consortium and Senior Market Development Director for Aerospace and Defense at RTI, what type of open architecture strategies are being pursued by European defense departments and if the U.S initiatives like FACE influenced those efforts.

LONDON. Sensor Open Systems Architecture (SOSA) Consortium members exhibiting at DSEI 2023 tell me there is considerable interest in the SOSA Technical Standard and in the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) modular open systems approach (MOSA) even if there is not an official MOSA mandate like the one from the DoD.

LONDON. BAE Systems won a contract from the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence (MOD) to develop its Striker II Helmet Mounted Display (HMD) for the Royal Air Force (RAF) Typhoon fleet.

I spent my first day touring the USA pavilion at DSEI 2023 in London. It’s my first time back to this massive show in four years; I saw many familiar faces and technologies from U.S. defense electronic suppliers, from connectors and signal-processing solutions to avionics boxes and rugged servers. Many companies are also showcasing and demonstrating their open-architecture designs.

LONDON. Leaders of defense organizations in Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom signed a trilateral Collaboration Agreement to deliver the concept phase requirements of a next generation combat aircraft for the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP).

LONDON. Ultra Intelligence & Communications (Ultra I&C) was named a supplier for the United Kingdom’s Crown Commercial Service’s Network Services 3 (NS3) Framework (RM6116) for Lot 1c – Tactical Radio Systems.