Op-Eds

From The Editor

Navy veteran Mariana Iriarte joins Mil-Embedded editorial staff - Blog

April 07, 2015

John M. McHale III - Editorial Director, Military Embedded Systems

FOUNTAIN HILLS, Ariz. Mariana Iriarte, retired Navy 2nd class Petty Officer, joined the Military Embedded Systems editorial team as Associate Editor last month. Iriarte, who is bilingual in Spanish and English, holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with a Creative Writing Specialization from Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas.

Comms

Powering devices using Ethernet - Blog

April 03, 2015

Ronen Isaac MilSource

ETHERNET EVERYWHERE BLOG: Power over Ethernet, or POE, is a technology that enables a single cable to provide both data connection and electrical power to networked pieces of equipment such as sensors, IP video cameras, and even wireless mesh nodes. POE works across standard network cabling (i.e. CAT5) to supply power directly from the data ports to which networked devices are connected.

Radar/EW

Inspiring electronic warfare careers in Canada - Blog

March 09, 2015

Tuhin Das D-TA Systems, Inc.

A shift is happening within the Canadian electronic warfare (EW) community, as young EW professionals are transitioning into leadership roles at a much younger age than their predecessors. These leadership positions also happen to be affiliated with industry-government-academic collaborations in the EW/defense sector. Coinciding with this evolution in the community is the growth of the only Canadian chapter of the Association of Old Crows (AOC) – the Maple Leaf Chapter, headquartered in the National Capital Region of Ottawa, Ontario. Currently the Maple Leaf has a membership base of 150 and has stated growing again thanks to a revitalization that began last fall.

Unmanned

Optical data links could be in your (very near) future - Blog

March 03, 2015

Ray Alderman VITA Standards Organization

Unmanned

Defense electronics get boost from in-house manufacturing - Blog

March 03, 2015

Tom Roberts Curtiss-Wright

While we are all aware that defense programs require rugged electronics that can deal with the harshest environments, and demand the highest levels of quality and reliability, an issue that might not be at top of mind is the effect that using contract manufacturers can have when customers require quick responses to critical program issues and urgent orders.

Cyber

Open Source: More eyes, fewer vulnerabilities, greater security - Blog

February 27, 2015

James Kirkland Red Hat

The Open Source Way Blog: Welcome to the first in a series of quarterly posts about using open source technologies as a part of your embedded systems solutions to speed up your development efforts, reduce project costs, and create collaborative environments for innovation.

Cyber

Record number of cyber attacks hit Lockheed Martin in 2014 - Blog

February 18, 2015

John M. McHale III - Editorial Director, Military Embedded Systems Lockheed Martin

ARLINGTON, VA. Lockheed Martin President and CEO Marillyn Hewson, announced that Lockheed Martin was hit by 50 cyber attacks during 2014, the most the company has ever seen directed against it and Hewson says she expects the number to only increase.

Unmanned

Five ways open source middleware can impact unmanned systems - Blog

February 12, 2015

Matthew Zager Red Hat

Unmanned

Defining fifth generation warfare - Blog

February 05, 2015

Ray Alderman VITA Standards Organization

WARFARE EVOLUTION BLOG: Discussing fifth generation warfare (5GW) makes me think of this quote from the Bible: "I beheld, and lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled."--Jeremiah 4:25. This defines 5GW, non-contact warfare in the present context. Since Sept. 11, 2001 the U.S. has performed more than 500 targeted killings on identified terrorists using armed unmanned aircraft.

Comms

Link aggregation: A cool tip for better bandwidth & redundancy on Ethernet switches - Blog

February 04, 2015

Ronen Isaac MilSource

ETHERNET EVERYWHERE BLOG: Have you ever worried that your existing 1G link may not be cutting the mustard for some data transmission? What about link redundancy and failover with your existing Ethernet device? Wouldn’t it be nice to know that you you’ll always have failover?

Avionics

Can Agile environments accelerate embedded software verification and certification? - Blog

January 27, 2015

Jay Thomas LDRA Technology

CODE QUALITY BLOG: Although Agile development is being adopted by most software development organizations, most embedded developers, especially those seeking certification, continue to resist using Agile methodologies. Developers perceive more risks with an iterative Agile approach versus the traditionally regimented methodologies and artifacts required to achieve certification. Specific concerns stem from how requirements are captured in an Agile process, and how the test early-and-often principles of Agile development can be fulfilled prior to the embedded systems hardware being available.

From The Editor

The proliferation of COTS acronyms - Blog

January 12, 2015

John M. McHale III - Editorial Director, Military Embedded Systems

More than two decades have passed since Secretary of Defense William Perry issued the “COTS memorandum,” dictating that the military must procure commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) technology. Since that time in 1994 we’ve seen budget cuts, defense buildups, sequestration, three presidents and a plethora of COTS acronym spinoffs.

Radar/EW

Evolution of 4th generation warfare - Blog

January 12, 2015

Ray Alderman VITA Standards Organization

WARFARE EVOLUTION BLOG: Our first, second, and third entries in this series covered the early evolution of warfare up through the Vietnam War, where fourth generation warfare (4GW) took hold. In this installment we discuss 4GW and how its foundational ideas of 4GW were originally written by Mao Tse Tung and his co-commander, Zhu De, in 1928.

Comms

The 31 flavors of Ethernet - Blog

January 06, 2015

Ronen Isaac MilSource

ETHERNET EVERYWHERE BLOG: Our last blog covered the basic subject of why Ethernet is a good choice for military and embedded applications. Now that Why has been explained, I thought that I would spend some time talking about the What? Most people are often surprised by the different flavors, so to speak, of Ethernet that exist. I’m not sure that there are actually 31 flavors, but for this discussion, it is close enough.

Radar/EW

Warfare Evolution Blog: Defeating 3rd generation warfare - Blog

January 02, 2015

Ray Alderman VITA Standards Organization

WARFARE EVOLUTION BLOG: We looked at the how the Blitzkrieg (3GW) defeated the Maginot Line (2GW) in Part 2 of this series. As U.S. Army Gen. George S. Patton once said, "a good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed at some indefinite time in the future." That axiom was proved true when 2GW was overwhelmed in World War II (WWII). Now, let's look at how 3GW can be defeated while continuing to support Patton's statement.