Military Embedded Systems

While it was officially released in the famous Dept. of Defense Tri-Service Memo five years ago, the concept of a modular open systems approach (MOSA) has been around for some time and is not a new concept, said Jason Dirner, in his keynote address at the MOSA [Modular Open Systems Approach] Virtual Summit held February 22 and hosted by myself and Military Embedded Systems. What is new, however, Dirner said, is “common MOSA, [where] you have multiple programs and services conforming to the same standard,” which enables a greater level of reuse and portability across the community.

Recruiting female minds to pursue degrees in electrical engineering and to work in the defense industry is a challenge that needs to be addressed by industry and government, Maria Ho, Deputy Director for Government and Strategic Programs, Aerospace & Defense at Analog Devices Inc. (ADI), told me in my podcast. Maria says that recruitment needs to start at the high-school level or even earlier to inspire young female students to select engineering as a degree and career path. Government programs, industry internships like those offered by ADI, mentorship, and even popular culture all play a role in solving this problem, she notes. Maria also talks about her own career in engineering and the defense industry while also addressing key technology trends in military RF and microwave designs. Edited excerpts follow.

Intel official announced that the company is spinning off their nProgram Solutions Group (PSG) as a standalone company, named Altera, the group’s original name when first acquired by intel in 2015. Altera’s field programmable gate array (FPGA) devices are key components in military sensor and signal procession applications like radar, electronic warfare, signals intelligence, and others.

SCOTTSDALE, AZ. Jason Dirner – MOSA Chief Engineer, MOSA Management Office , Engineering & Systems Integration (ESI) Directorate, U.S. Army DEVCOM C5ISR Center, will keynote the MOSA Virtual Summit, being held Feb 27 at 11 am Est. Other sessions include: Leveraging MOSA for C5ISR, Electronic Warfare, and Radar Applications; MOSA at the Edge — C5ISR Sensors Across Multiple Domains;  and MOSA Strategies for Military Aviation Platforms.

Engineers at Echodyne have enhanced the capability of small radars for military applications such a counter-UAS [uncrewed aircraft system]. In a podcast I did with Tom Driscoll, co-founder and CTO of Echodyne, he and I discussed how his team’s metamaterials electronically scanned array (MESA) radar system does things that traditional active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar systems cannot, the company’s unique business model, and how it leverages commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components like Xilinx FPGAs [field-programmable gate arrays]. Tom also shared details about his background in metamaterials and how he once designed an RF invisibility cloak using them. Edited excerpts follow.

The defense technology community has a recruitment challenge on its hands when it comes to competing with the commercial technology world for engineering talent; this reality is especially true when it comes to growing the pool of women engineers. In this podcast with Maria Ho, Deputy Director for Government and Strategic Programs, Aerospace & Defense at Analog Devices, we discuss how to encourage female students to explore engineering careers, the importance of STEM in schools, and the ways in which Analog Devices invests in young engineers. Maria also talks about those people who have inspired her in her career and how popular culture can help inspire learners.

We’re here on the first day of the 60th Annual AOC International Symposium & Convention, held at the Gaylord Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland. Electronic warfare (EW), spectrum dominance, and signals intelligence and the RF, microwave, and signal-processing technologies behind them are key components of both the conference and the exhibition.

For a take on the AOC event, and a look at the EW market, I sat down with Jerome Patoux, Director of Aerospace & Defense for the Aerospace, Defense, and RF Products Business Unit of Analog Devices. Here are some excerpts:

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.