Military Embedded Systems

Six years have passed since the tri-service memo was issued by the Air Force, Army, and Navy leadership mandating the use of a modular open systems approach (MOSA) in all new programs and technology refreshes. Many in the defense community were already embracing MOSA strategies and leveraging open standards, but having the three services mandate it promised faster adoption. Update: It’s happening. MOSA is already the law and now defense secretary Pete Hegseth is dictating a MOSA approach as part of his efforts to reform and speed up the defense acquisition process.

WASHINGTON – AUSA ANNUAL MEETING 2025. Electronic warfare (EW) modernization, software-defined radios (SDRs), and modular open systems approach (MOSA) strategies are all trends within U.S. Army technology development and procurement. During the AUSA Annual Meeting this month in Washington, I sat down with Clif Basnight, Vice President, Strategic Technologies, Ultra I&C, to discuss these trends. Edited excerpts of our conversation follow.

AUSA Annual Meeting & Expositon. Citing human factors feedback from operators, engineers at Silvus Technologies developed the StreamCaster NEXUS system, a light-weight, chest-mounted tactical networking solution for enhanced mobility and connectivity for dismounted toops. The systems was demosntrated at the Silvus booth, #3645,, this week at the AUSA Annual Meeting & Exposition in Washington. 

DSEI UK 2025, LONDON. BAE Systems and Thales officials kicked off a new collaboration today at DSEI in London to deliver next-generation submarine sonar capability, when they signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

LONDON -- DSEI UK 2025. The MCM100 electronically controlled, closed-circuit, mixed-gas military rebreather with new diver-control attachment featured at Avon Protection Booth N3-310 at DSEI UK 2025 in London this week.

LONDON – DSEI UK 2025. Effective combat-vehicle technology today is being driven by demand for networked sensors and distributed computing, artificial intelligence (AI), and open architecture, Bill Guyan, SVP, Business Development & President, International, Leonardo DRS, told me this morning at DSEI UK 2025. We also talked about how defense procurement for European nations differs from that of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). Guyan also shared the biggest technological innovation he’s seen since his time as a U.S. Army tank commander. Edited excerpts follow.

LONDON -- DSEI UK 2025. Achieving dominance in the spectrum domain is getting more complex as adversarial threats continue to improve their jamming techniques. Innovative RF and microwave solutions are needed to win at the edge in the EMS domain. This week, I sat down with Tim Fountain, Head of Aerospace & Defense Test Market Segment, Rohde & Schwarz, at his booth (S8-240) at DSEI UK 2025 in London.

LONDON -- DSEI UK. Shield AI and HII announced today at DSEI UK 2025 -- ongoing now in London -- a partnership to advance modular, cross-domain mission autonomy. Under the agreement, Shield AI’s Hivemind mission autonomy software will be leveraged with HII’s Odyssey suite to develop next-generation autonomous solutions.

LONDON -- DSEI UK. Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace awarded Galleon Embedded Computing a multimillion-dollar contract to produce the company’s Realtime Computer XSR RTC Version 2 (RTC 2) for integration into Kongsberg’s National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS), a globally deployed air-defense system.

DSEI UK 2025, LONDON. DDC-I officials announced today that the company selected APC Technology Group as its sales representative for the U.K. and Ireland. The partnership was formally launched at the DSEI UK 2025 show this week in London at APC’s parent company booth, Certify Holdings, #S3-365.

LONDON -- DSEI UK 2025. Speaking with embedded computing suppliers at the DSEI 2025 show in London this week, I’m hearing growing support of requirements for open standards and open architectures, even if they don’t necessarily know about the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) mandate for MOSA, or modular open systems approach, content.

DSEI UK 2025 LONDON. Robin Radar Systems unveiled a software upgrade aided by feedback from Ukrainian counter-UAS (uncrewed aircraft system) operations to its flagship IRIS counter-UAS radar, extending detection range from 5 km (3.1 miles) to 12 km (7.45 miles). This enables IRIS to detect and classify Shahed loitering munitions at long distances, providing operators with early warning against lethal drone weapons.

Military platforms often last for decades, long past the lifespans of modern computing components and boards. System designers for these aging platforms must rely on a variety of solutions from lifetime buys of components when they go end-of-life to working with aftermarket suppliers, who buy obsolete product lines and keep producing them for customers with ultra-long-term needs. In a recent podcast, Ethan Plotkin, CEO of GDCA, and I discussed military aftermarket trends, open architectures, artificial intelligence (AI), and how sustainment reform can help solve long-term obsolescence challenges in defense applications. Edited excerpts follow.

A concept that is gaining steam and technological legs within the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is the Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control (CJADC2) strategy. We’ve covered CJADC2 since before the DoD added the “C” for “combined” as a way to interact with allied partners in a data-centric network scenario. At first it was mostly visionary discussions without practical solutions, but now actual products are being developed by primes and embedded hardware and software providers.

Recently, I spoke with Tanika Watson, executive leader for the GE Aerospace Future Vertical Lift business, about GE Aerospace’s subcontract to develop and deliver avionics systems for the Army’s Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) program, the role of time-sensitive networking (TSN) in the FLRAA digital backbone, and the impact of the modular open systems approach (MOSA) on military avionics systems going forward.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland. The MOSA Industry & Government Summit & Expo – scheduled for August 27-29, 2025, at the Gaylord National Harbor, in National Harbor, Maryland – will feature conference sessions and exposition covering modular open system approach (MOSA) strategies, technology, and live industry technology demonstrations.

Military platforms often last for decades, long past the life spans of modern computing components and boards. System designers for these aging platforms must rely on a variety of solutions from lifetime buys of components when they go end of life to working with aftermarket suppliers, who buy obsolete product lines and keep producing them for customers with ultra long-term needs. In this podcast with Ethan Plotkin, CEO of GDCA, we discuss military aftermarket trends, open architectures, artificial intelligence, and how sustainment reform can help solve long-term obsolescence challenges get in defense applications.

At SOF Week 2025, Heath Niemi, vice president of Strategic Engagement at Shield AI, highlights the capabilities of the V-BAT tactical uncrewed aerial system - a Group 3 vertical take off and landing (VTOL) uncrewed aerial system (UAS) equipped with Shield AI’s proprietary Hivemind autonomous pilot software.

SOF WEEK 2025 – Tampa, Fla. Experts at Nammo are showcasing their unmanned aircraft system (UAS)-specific offerings at this week's SOF Week 2025. The warheads are easy to mount and operate.

SOF WEEK 2025 — Tampa, Fla. Engineers at Astronics Test Systems are featuring their ATS-6100 RTS at SOF Week 2025, booth #245. The tester combines 19 instruments into one, offering fault detection and operational verification of radio communications at all levels of deployment.