The FACE [Future Airborne Capability Environment] approach to reducing life cycle costs for the military is based on reusing software components across different platforms and airborne systems. The FACE Technical Standard addresses this issue through a reference architecture and data model, well-defined interfaces, and widely used underlying industry standards (IDL, Posix, ARINC-653).

The U.S. military is constantly in search of technology that will lead to improving military capabilities while minimizing the risk to the warfighter. The COM-HPC standard promises to increase the functionality of edge computing and usher in new applications that will forever change the way military operations are conducted. There exist multiple opportunities as well as some challenges related to the adoption of COM-HPC for military use.

The National Security Agency’s (NSA’s) Commercial Solutions for Classified (CSfC) program enables integrators to leverage two distinct CSfC-approved commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components to protect classified data at rest or in transit. Prior to the introduction of CSfC, programs with classified data requirements had to either develop or use an existing Type-1 solution.

Reduced size, weight, and power (SWaP) requirements are pervasive throughout defense electronics platforms. Electronic footprints continue to shrink so much that traditional small form factors like 3U VPX or 3U CompactPCI are considered too big. So, it's not surprising that the VITA Standards Organization (VSO) is looking at new form factors, such as Short VPX. In this podcast, Jay Grandin, Vice President of Product Development at Annapolis Micro Systems discusses demand for small form factors, how Short VPX can meet that demand and how it fits into the Open VPX ecosystem.

Each issue, the editorial staff of Military Embedded Systems will highlight a different charitable organization that benefits the military, veterans, and their families. We are honored to cover the technology that protects those who protect us every day. To back that up, our parent company – OpenSystems Media – will make a donation to every group we showcase on this page.

As a testament to the celebrated success of FACE (Future Airborne Capability Environment), mandatory conformance requirements for mission-system software have flowed down for nearly every applicable military program since the publication of FACE 2.0. But even as FACE informs and guides all aspects of software design for tactical mission systems (communications, flight control, flight map and planning, cockpit displays, etc.), the world of vehicle control harbors reservations about FACE adoption. The imperative to deliver safety critical, hard real-time control systems has raised concerns about technical feasibility impeded by the complexities inherent to the FACE multicore Operating System Segment (OSS).

During the night of 7 October 2001, [Central Intelligence Agency] CIA-controlled Predator drone 3034 was flying over a mud-walled compound in Afghanistan, the suspected hideout of Taliban leader Mullah Omar. The infrared (IR) sensors picked-up heat signatures from three vehicles and a motorcycle leaving and heading toward Kandahar. The drone pilot, and the weapons officer controlling the two on-board Hellfire missiles, were sitting in a trailer on the grounds of CIA-headquarters (HQ) in Langley, Virginia.