Military Embedded Systems

Welcome to our 2020 September Resource Guide, which is more than 100 pages for the eighth straight year. Shows you that print is not dead yet – not here – and definitely not in the military-electronics arena. So thank you to our loyal readers and advertisers for continuing to support our flagship publication. Thanks for supporting our print and online channels, but also for your support of and respect toward our warfighters and the sacrifices they make every day.

GUELPH, Ontario, Canada. HEICO Corp. acquired Connect Tech, a producer of embedded computing and NVIDIA GPU solutions for military applications such as unmanned systems, communications, ISR (intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance), and more various form factors such as COM Express and PC104. As a subsidiary of HEICO Corporation, Connect Tech will continue to serve its global customer base.

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio. Officials at the Open Group announced the Technical Standard for SOSA Reference Architecture, Snapshot 3 is now available for download. According to the Open Group, the document is a Snapshot of what will, after maturation, become the Technical Standard for SOSA (Sensor Open Systems Architecture) Reference Architecture, Edition 1.0. 

SOLOMONS, Maryland. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic officials at the Open Group and the consortia they manage - the Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE) and the Sensor Open Systems Architecture (SOSA) - announced that the The Open Group FACE and SOSA Consortia Expo & TIM, originally scheduled for September 22, 2020 at the Holiday Inn Solomons Conference Center & Marina in Solomons, Maryland, the event will now be held Tuesday, March 23 at the same venue.

Information overload: another way of saying big data challenge.

Small satellites and their reduced size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C) requirements are challenging microelectronics suppliers to deliver the performance of commercial technology while also maintaining reliability. I discussed these trends in a McHale Report podcast with Tom Smelker, vice president and general manager for Mercury Systems Custom Microelectronic Solutions in Phoenix, Arizona. We also covered sensor processing tends and how artificial intelligence will impact future space applications. Smelker also discussed what he calls the end of Moore’s law and its potential impact on the military electronics market. Edited excerpts follow.

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona. Our new website and new URL: MilitaryEmbedded.com are now live. We are very excited. A big thank you to our development team, production team, and editorial staff for bringing our new online home together. Check out some highlights and key categories below and then browse away.

Contested space, where nations compete for military dominance outside Earth’s atmosphere, is driving many military space platforms, but commercial space and small satellites continue to change the way the military suppliers of space electronics approach radiation-hardened component design from testing to deployment.

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona. Elements of the Sensor Open System Architecture (SOSA) technical standard are leveraging standards developed by the VITA Standards Organization, specifically VITA 65, also known as OpenVPX. VITA has also become a participating member of the SOSA Consortium along with the Air Force, Army, and Navy. This harmonization between the services, industry, and industry standardization bodies helps drive the SOSA initiative’s strong momentum within the defense community. This webcast titled, "SOSA and VITA: Enabling Open Standards for Improved Capability," to be held on Wednesday, June 24, at 2 pm Est., will cover how the SOSA Consortium is working with VITA to enable standardization of VITA-based standards within the SOSA Technical Standard.

SOLOMONS, Maryland. Officials at the Open Group and the consortia they manage - the Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE) and the Sensor Open Systems Architecture (SOSA) - are organizing the The Open Group FACE and SOSA Consortia Expo & TIM, to be held September 22, 2020 at the Holiday Inn Solomons Conference Center & Marina in Solomons, Maryland. FACE and SOSA Consortia Meetings will be held September will follow the expo at the same location from Sept. 23-25, 2020.

IRVINE, California. Meggitt Defense Systems, Inc. (MDSI) won a contract to provide the Thermal Management System (TMS) to General Dynamics Land Systems in Sterling Heights, Michigan, for the Abrams program. The TMS delivers active cooling to the upgraded Abrams electronics and crew.