Op-Eds

Avionics

Vendor backing grows for the emerging FACE standard - Blog

April 30, 2019

Ricardo Camacho - director of Safety & Security Compliance, Parasoft LDRA Technology

Avionics vendors ? hardware and software ? share an enthusiasm for the Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE) Technical Standard, which promotes a common operating environment with reuse of software capabilities across multiple Department of Defense (DoD) avionics systems. This enthusiasm continues to grow as does participation within the FACE consortium ? run by the Open Group ? as the version 3.0 of the standard is soon to be released. The long -term life-cycle cost savings enabled by reuse standards such as FACE are changing the face of the DoD the procurement process for embedded computing solutions.

Radar/EW

Problems with the kill web: Moving from C4ISR to SNAI - Blog

March 27, 2019

Ray Alderman VITA Standards Organization

WARFARE EVOLUTION BLOG: By now, you know the kill web is a dynamic networked "system of systems," that can act (offensively or defensively) at the speed of computers against our enemy's tactics and strategies on the battlefield. There are a number of technical problems to be solved in communications, computer architectures, sensors, and software, but the engineering brainiacs are working on those. The bigger issues are actually on the operational side of the kill web. Decisions involving many variables must be made in milliseconds or microseconds. The human mind cannot possibly handle all the data from the intelligence sources and sensors, assimilate that data, and make critical decisions in those timeframes. So let?s consider some examples, to expose the complications and contradictions in the kill web.

Radar/EW

Keep pace with a standardized development process - Blog

February 28, 2019

Nick Butler NI (National Instruments)

Standardization has been an aspirational objective in test organizations for decades. In 1961, D.B. Dobson and L.L. Wolff of Radio Corporation of America (RCA) published a paper, ?Standardization of Electronic Test Equipment.? The paper presented the principles, criteria, and techniques used in the investigation and prototyping of multipurpose missile system test equipment.

Cyber

Integrity of embedded systems - Blog

February 28, 2019

Russell Doty Red Hat

It is critical to be able to verify the integrity of systems used in military and other applications to ensure that they have not been modified or corrupted. It is of course best to prevent a system from being tampered with. If this can't be done, it is vital to detect tampering. In many cases it is better to prevent a system from operating at all if you can't be sure it hasn't been modified. In all cases it is vital to protect information on the system and especially critical secrets like crypto keys.

Cyber

Securing the supply chain - Blog

February 06, 2019

Chris Cummins Abaco Systems

Comms

Fiber and copper working together for today's Ethernet backbones - Blog

January 31, 2019

Ronen Isaac MilSource

ETHERNET EVERYWHERE BLOG: In all mobile military and airborne platforms, the transition from mechanical systems to electronically controlled systems is taking place. As the electronics content continues to grow, so do the processing loads that happen on every platform. Embedded computers are rising in sophistication as they need to support sensors, radar, video streams, and remote-control functions. Distributed processing, the interconnection of devices, and communication between devices has led to an exponential jump in bandwidth requirements on the interconnects between these devices. Traditional protocols like IEEE 1394 and USB still have legacy applications on these platforms, but most new platforms and platform retrofits are turning to Ethernet as their de facto communications protocol, supporting 1 Gbps in most platforms and growing to 10 Gbps in certain payloads.

Unmanned

Future weapons and the kill web - Blog

January 31, 2019

Ray Alderman VITA Standards Organization

WARFARE EVOLUTION BLOG: Come with me now as we travel to another dimension, a realm far beyond the mundane incremental improvements in traditional military weaponry. It?s a curious domain where warfare is bounded only by our imagination. The technology to implement the weapons you will see is available now, give or take some miniaturization of the components here and there. Not since the invention of gunpowder has mankind experienced such a revolution in the tools of armed conflict. So gear-up, and keep your heads down, as we embark upon this mission. You are now entering the kill web of the future.

Radar/EW

Embedding data center compute capability at the tactical edge with open systems architectures - Blog

December 20, 2018

John Bratton Mercury Systems

At a high level, the vast majority of contemporary compute processing hardware may be divided into two domains: powerful data center processors and smaller, embedded devices. Embedded devices have the support of their data center big brothers via a network connection, giving them to access big data applications.

Radar/EW

C4ISR systems and the kill web - Blog

December 20, 2018

Ray Alderman

WARFARE EVOLUTION BLOG. In previous articles, we looked at the market research reports and forecasts for fighter planes, bombers, helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and ground combat vehicles. All those platforms contain C4ISR systems (command, control, computers, communications, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance). The openly available data about this market is much foggier than the information on the military platform markets. Making things more complicated, C4ISR is further divided into radar, sonar, signals intelligence (SIGINT), sensors, electronic warfare (EW), cyber warfare (CW), COMM (networked military communications), and administrative systems. Moments of clarity do surface in the reports, but you have to dig for them.

Radar/EW

Takeaways from the AOC International Symposium and Conference - Blog

December 12, 2018

Mario LaMarche Mercury Systems

From the proliferation of smart phones to the introduction of self-driving cars, the last decade has brought sweeping technological advances across all industries. This new and continually changing reality was on everyone?s mind at the recent Association of Old Crows (AOC) Symposium and Conference held in Washington. The symposium theme, "Winning the Electromagnetic Spectrum Domain: A Culture and Mind Shift," captured the sentiment clearly.

Unmanned

UAVs and the kill web - Blog

October 31, 2018

Ray Alderman

UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) are already part of the kill web for the U.S. military, forming teams with manned aircraft, dropping bombs, and providing persistent surveillance across the globe and soon will be equipped with lasers to provide even more lethality. UAVs have reshaped warfare in modern times, but you may be surprised to learn that they have actually been around since 1849.

Avionics

Smart contactors provide intelligent avionics overcurrent protection - Blog

October 31, 2018

Karl Kitts

Think carefully when you answer this question: What's one of the fastest, most precise ways to prevent overcurrents from damaging the power circuits used aboard today's more-electrical and all-electrical aircraft? A thoughtful answer would be "smart power contactor," a circuit-switching device that not only handles high voltages, but also incorporates the intelligence to sense a variety of abnormal electrical events and respond faster and more accurately than conventional circuit breakers.

Avionics

Faster power switches for aircraft safety: Going from milliseconds to microseconds - Blog

September 28, 2018

Matthew Mishrikey TE Connectivity

In a few milliseconds, electrical arcing in aircraft wiring can release thousands of joules of energy. This is enough to ignite wire insulation, pierce hydraulic lines, and compromise critical flight-control subsystems.

Radar/EW

Helicopters and the kill web - Blog

September 28, 2018

Ray Alderman VITA Standards Organization

WARFARE EVOLUTION BLOG: Helicopters will have a role in the kill web as they have in the kill chain dating back to their first uses in warfare. Starting with the Korean War, and later in Vietnam, the helicopter became the cavalry. Anyone serving in the Army during the 1960s and 1970s knows about the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) in Vietnam. You could hear their UH-1 Iroquois helicopters (nickname: Huey) coming from miles away. These aircraft carried troops into battle and provided fire support for ground forces in a fight.