Military Embedded Systems
Op-Eds
Avionics
6G stealth fighter planes: The quarterback of the kill web - Blog
January 31, 2020
WARFARE EVOLUTION BLOG: There are 14 countries working on 6th Generation (6G) fighter planes these days: the U.S. (PCA, F/A-XX, NGAD); the United Kingdom, Sweden, Italy, and maybe India (Tempest); France, Germany, and Spain (FCAS); Japan (F-3); Taiwan (ADF); South Korea and Indonesia (KF-X); Russia (MiG-41); and China (J-XX). Before we get into the details, we need to define what a 6G fighter jet is. The F-35 and F-22 are 5G fighter planes. There are six aircraft generation classification charts out there: Hallion, Aerospaceweb, Air Force Magazine, Winchester, Air Power Development Center, and China’s Air Force. All these templates have been overcome by advances in technology and evolving mission requirements. So, we’ll be breaking new ground in this essay, by adding to the common 6G characteristics from the old charts and building an updated definition. Then, we’ll integrate those new aircraft into the kill web.
Cyber
Expanding hardware security trust - Blog
January 07, 2020
As security threats continue to grow and undermine the trust in systems performing critical operations, the ability to detect and prevent changes to vital system components is necessary to maintain system integrity. In order to get ahead of these threats, organizations need to deploy hardware roots of trust to monitor and defend critical systems. Hardware roots of trust use encryption and digital-signature technology to ensure only legitimate changes are made to system components.
A.I.
From gaming to the battlefield: the benefits of virtual reality in military training - Blog
December 11, 2019
Today?s technology allows gamers to wage battles against players around the world through immersive, cross-platform play. Beyond entertainment, this type of cross-platform, virtual technology could revolutionize the way the U.S. Army trains.
A.I.
What is a tensor and why should I care? - Blog
December 09, 2019Over time, the definition of a tensor has varied across communities from mathematics to quantum physics. Lately, it has joined the machine learning community's lexicon. If you search the web for the definition of a tensor, you will likely be overwhelmed by the varying explanations and heated discussions. In 1900, Gregorio Ricci Curbastro and his student Tullio Levi-Civita first published their theory of tensor calculus, which is also known as absolute differential calculus.
Comms
Satellites and the kill web - Blog
November 25, 2019
WARFARE EVOLUTION BLOG. In August 1990, Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. At that time, the US. .Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS) had one communications satellite in geostationary orbit (GEO) operating over the Indian Ocean, covering the Middle East. Within the next few weeks, a satellite over the Atlantic Ocean was tilted to access the Persian Gulf. Another satellite in polar orbit was moved to 65 degrees East, and a reserve satellite over the Indian Ocean was activated. Some British satellites were linked-in, and these measures created the first space-based military communications network in history.
Comms
Cyber
CSfC Technology Day 2019 recap - Blog
October 31, 2019
On October 10, 2019 in Baltimore, Maryland, component suppliers, trusted integrators, the National Security Agency (NSA), the Department of Defense (DoD), defense primes and other companies assembled to discuss cutting-edge data security solutions to protect national security systems (NSS). The second annual Commercial Solutions for Classified (CSfC) Technology Day sponsored by Mercury Systems, with partner and trusted integrator, Tribalco, presented a comprehensive lineup related to the program and significant data security solutions.
Unmanned
Hypersonic vehicles and the kill web - Blog
September 30, 2019
WARFARE EVOLUTION BLOG: The U.S., China, and Russia are spending a ton of money on research and development for hypersonic vehicles these days, so it?s time to explore what the aeronautical engineers are doing and why.
Radar/EW
Radar and the kill web - Blog
July 31, 2019
WARFARE EVOLUTION BLOG: This is a complex topic, broad in applications and deep in technical details. Radar can be studied from several different angles: by the domain covered (land, sea, undersea, air, and space), by the frequencies used (the IEEE, EU/NATO, and ITU all use different frequency band designations, making things even more confusing), by the range of the signal (long range surveillance, intermediate-range theater coverage, and short-range fire control radar), by application (offensive radar vs defensive radar), or by radar types (there are about 13 of them). Each of these approaches spill over into the next, creating a convoluted mess if you?re not careful. So, the safest way to eliminate the confusion in a short article like this is oversimplification. Therefore, we will look at what radar does in the kill web, and a little about how it works.
Comms
How Ethernet is key to VICTORY - Blog
June 28, 2019
ETHERNET EVERYWHERE BLOG: Adding or enhancing new command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) and electronic warfare (EW) technologies in armed forces? tactical ground vehicles has historically been done through a ?bolt-on? approach. Communications systems have traditionally been independent, siloed systems that lacked integration, futureproofing and as importantly, economies of size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C).
Radar/EW
Enemy ships and the kill web - Blog
June 27, 2019
WARFARE EVOLUTION BLOG: Since our primary enemies (Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea) have some capacity for naval warfare, it might be instructive to examine how they can confront the kill web at sea. To do that, we need to look at the hull count (total number of warships) and the total tonnage (water displacement of their fleet) for each country. Hull count will tell us how many ships they can deploy in a fight, and tonnage will tell us their range, and how large and deadly those ships are. That will give us the big picture and we can start assessing their capabilities from there.
Avionics
FACE approach improves affordability, time-to-field of avionics systems and software platforms - Blog
June 19, 2019
Maintaining U.S. supremacy in all aspects of warfare can be challenging for Department of Defense (DoD) leaders, partly due to being locked into proprietary platforms or vendor- specific open architectures. These issues limit the government?s ability to bring in third parties to compete or add new capabilities, which has resulted in sole-source or single-bidder contract awards. An open systems architecture strategy has shown to curb the high-cost, long program schedules and lack of integration options of warfighting capabilities. This is where an initiative such as the Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE) can play a major role in making a business and technological difference.
A.I.
Radar/EW
Strategic intelligence and the kill web - Blog
May 31, 2019
WARFARE EVOLUTION BLOG: In previous articles, we explored the technologies and tactics going into the Kill Web, and how they work. Now, we need to look at how strategic intelligence feeds into the Kill Web, and into the order of battle (OB). That's the structure of our troops and weapons, and how they will be deployed against an enemy.
Avionics
Vendor backing grows for the emerging FACE standard - Blog
April 30, 2019
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.
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Counter-UAS munition unveiled by Helix Defense
June 26, 2026
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Crewed-uncrewed aircraft teaming tested by Leonardo, Baykar
June 23, 2026
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PRODUCT OF THE WEEK: Systel’s Hawk AI Strike rugged edge AI compute platform
June 22, 2026
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Unmanned underwater vehicles supported during mine countermeasures exercise by HII
June 19, 2026
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Airborne ISR market projected to reach $21.40 billion by 2031, study says
June 26, 2026
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GUEST BLOG: Space-based sensing -- The backbone of Golden Dome’s next era of homeland defense
June 26, 2026
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Raytheon closes $1.1 billion AIM-9X missile contract with U.S. Navy
June 26, 2026
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Radar production and test capacity to be expanded in the Netherlands by Thales
June 23, 2026
A.I.
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Edge AI platform stages demo for U.S. Air Force
June 30, 2026
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Simulation and sensor-modeling technology firm acquired by Shield AI
June 23, 2026
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The military’s real AI revolution is happening in the dirt
June 16, 2026
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Artificial intelligence tools to be integrated into HENSOLDT MDOcore platform
June 10, 2026
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Unified storage for the edge revolution
July 01, 2026
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SOSA aligned card design garners Pacific Defense U.S. Army contract
June 30, 2026
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Space network technologies garner AiRanaculus $5 million NASA contract
June 26, 2026
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High-resolution imaging satellites to be built for Vantor by BAE Systems
June 25, 2026