Military Embedded Systems
Blogs
What is a tensor and why should I care? - Blog
December 09, 2019
Over 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
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.
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.
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.
Radar/EW
Problems with the kill web: Moving from C4ISR to SNAI - Blog
March 27, 2019
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
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, 2019It 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.
- Seagull USV platforms to be delivered to a Navy in Asia-Pacific
- SWITCH UAV designed for ISR missions procured by Indian Army
- Detect-and-avoid system in development for UASs under AFWERX contract
- Counter-small UAS strategy released by U.S. Department of Defense
- Next Generation of Industry-Leading 3U VPX FPGA Board Designed to Align With SOSA Technical Standard
- Epiq Solutions Announces Sidekiq VPX400, a Multi-Channel, Phase Coherent RF Transceiver Solution in a Single 3U VPX Form Factor Aligned to SOSA Technical Standards
- Joint STARS radar system for E-8C fleet to undergo modification work
- Emerging threats drive RF and microwave component design trends for electronic warfare
- AI and ML performance to be boosted with ruggedized storage devices
- Top 10 military AI stories of 2020
- AI-powered air-to-surface systems in development under Rafael contract
- AI in government calls for more coordinated approach and leveraging partnerships, forum attendees assert
- Hardware win for Abaco Systems to support Space Force tactical satellite communication program
- Rugged Ethernet switch selected to equip Canadian Armored Combat Support Vehicle
- Seamless integration and management of all telemetry range assets in an intuitive user-friendly interface!
- Vehicular tactical computers to be supplied to RNLA by Elbit Systems