Military Embedded Systems

Speakers at the MOSA Industry and Government Summit & Expo – held in September in National Harbor, Maryland – made modular open systems approach (MOSA) news, with discussions about leveraging MOSA for space, the impact of government reference architectures (GRAs), and the standing up of the MOSA Cadre in the U.S. Department of War.  

MOSA INDUSTRY AND GOVERNMENT SUMMIT & EXPO -- NATIONAL HARBOR, Md.  “We know that if autonomy is modular, it can also be scalable, and if it's not, it's not,” said Brig. Gen. Timothy M. Helfrich, Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Fighters and Advanced Aircraft, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Air Force Materiel Command, U.S. Air Force. during his keynote presentation at the MOSA Industry & Government Summit, underway now at the Gaylord National Harbor Convention Center. Helfrich detailed how using the Autonomous Government Reference Architecture (AGRA) the Air Force was able to swap out mission autonomy software mid-flight in a collaborative combat aircraft (CCA).

Component obsolescence is a problem that will not go away for military system designers, especially as they leverage more innovation from commercial semiconductor companies. During a podcast with Daniel Deisz, VP of Design Technology at Rochester Electronics, we discussed the military aftermarket world, component recreation, counterfeit parts, the impact of modular open systems approach (MOSA) strategies on sustainment, and more. Edited excerpts follow. To view the whole podcast, visit https://tinyurl.com/hx9uszx8.

As the U.S. Army goes through modernization efforts, it is embracing a more modular open systems approach (MOSA) to leverage commercial technology more quickly and upgrade existing systems while also embracing artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomy, all of this evidenced by exhibitors and conference tracks at the Ground Vehicle Systems Engineering & Technology Symposium (GVSETS 2026), which was held in mid-August in Novi, Michigan. During the event I sat down with Thom Green (Col., U.S. Army, Ret.), GVSETS Chairman; and Eric Patton, President of Ares Technology, GVSETS Deputy Chair, and NDIA [National Defense Industrial Association] board member, and we discussed those topics in addition to how the Army also needs to modernize logistics, Michigan’s defense industrial base and history with the Army, and their goals for the show. Edited excerpts follow.

There is a pressing need within not just the special operations community but also in all the U.S. military services and government to understand and identify the narrative messages U.S. adversaries are using against us, says Bill Wall, CEO and co-founder of Accrete AI Government, told me during a SOF Week Show Daily version of the McHale Report podcast. He and I also discussed ways the U.S. military can achieve information dominance, how artificial intelligence (AI) enables a cognitive advantage, and Accrete AI’s knowledge engine platform. We also talked about what had him most excited about SOF Week. Edited excerpts follow.

During my 30 years in this industry, I’ve yet to meet anyone who thinks the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) moves too fast when it comes to technology acquisition. Never happened, never will. At the same time, real acquisition reform that speeds up technology adoption for the warfighter in a lasting way has been rare.

PARIS--EUROSATORY 2026. The threat from uncrewed aerial vehicles (UASs) is getting more complex and difficult to counter, as the conflict in Ukraine continues to show. That threat is also behind the insatiable demand for counter-UAS solutions at Eurosatory (Paris) this week, Bill Guyan, SVP, Business Development & President, International, Leonardo DRS, told me during a chat on Wednesday. We also talked about radar designed for aerial drone detection, European adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), and what must happen for AI to become a combat advantage for the U.S. on the battlefield. Edited excerpts follow.

VPX-based solutions have been deployed in signal-processing-intensive military applications like radar and electronic warfare (EW) for more than a decade, but the adoption of the VITA standard has been slow in Europe. Meanwhile, the more recently ratified small-form-factor VNX standard is already getting interest from European military system designers.

EUROSATORY: Paris, France. Robin Radar Systems introduced IRIS OTM at Sea, an expansion of its IRIS On-The-Move (OTM) capability that brings rapid counter-drone detection to ports, vessels, harbors, and critical maritime infrastructure to counter the growing threat from fixed-wing Shahed drones and low-flying unmanned systems.

EUROSATORY: Paris, France. Engineers at Galvion are evolving the company’s Cortex architecture and showcased a new HALO configuration for its Cortex EVO system at Eurosatory 2026 this week.

EUROSATORY: Paris. France. Avon Protection launched a new short duration (SD) breathing apparatus option of their Powered Air Purifying Respirator (PAPR) for integration with a Combination Respirator Unit (CRU) at Eurosatory this week.

EUROSATORY: Paris, France. Robots go first is the motto of the co-founders of Shifters, which designs ground robots that leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to work as a unit.  

EUROSATORY: Paris, France. Engineers at Silvus demonstrated how their StreamCaster SL5200 OEM module meets low, size, weight, and power requirements for small uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) platforms.

While there is not a huge program of record or one nation’s war department mandating adoption of a modular open systems approach (MOSA) in Europe, systems integrators are building with modularity in mind and acquiring technology based on open standards like the Sensor Open Systems Architecture, or SOSA, Technical Standard. I discussed this trend with MOSA proponents during Eurosatory in Paris, France, this week.

EUROSATORY: Paris, France.  Exail launched the company’s Advans Vega SL, a high-precision inertial navigation system (INS) that maintains navigation continuity across amphibious operations.

EUROSATORY: Paris, France. BAE Systems’ Digital Intelligence business chose MARSS to provide the command and control (C2) solution for the BAE Systems’ Anti Threat System (BATS) counter-UAS (CUAS) system. The agreement was confirmed live at Eurosatory, on day two of the show.

EUROSATORY: Paris, France. DroneShield leaders announced that its first European-produced counter‑unmanned aerial system (C‑UAS) is now off the production line, with the same design as DroneShield’s Australian-built systems.

EUROSATORY: Paris, France. When you’ve been to hundreds of trade shows booth displays can often look the same after a while; the folks at TE Connectivity this week got creative with how they show where their different products would be found in an uncrewed aerial system (UAS).

The Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) narrowband military satellite-communications system provides warfighters with secure, high-quality voice and data communications. Although it has been successfully deployed for decades, MUOS technology is still not pervasive. During a podcast with Jason Ferguson, president of W5 Technologies, we discussed the history of MUOS, how it fits into the defense industry today, and the efforts to sustain it. For the full interview and Ferguson’s in-depth knowledge of MUOS and W5’s MUOS solutions watch the whole episode here: https://tinyurl.com/5aurv7dn. Edited excerpts follow.

EURSATORY: Paris, France. The Hellcat aerial drone, built with lessons learned from Ukrainian warriors and engineers, was launched today by Red Cat Holdings at Eurosatory in Paris, France this week. Hellcat, a dual-use, small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS) built on Red Cat’s Black Widow platform is designed for rapidly evolving operational environments.