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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

WARFARE EVOLUTION BLOG. When I started researching ground combat vehicles (GCV) and tanks, I suspected it was going to be messy from the start. I was not disappointed. There's a plethora of research reports and articles containing hundreds of pages on this topic.

WARFARE EVOLUTION BLOG: In our last article, we examined how U.S. fighter planes fit into the kill web, along with a review of European Union (EU), Russian, and Chinese fighters. And, we looked at some of their flight characteristics and design parameters. Now, it?s time to explore long range heavy bomber aircraft.

WARFARE EVOLUTION BLOG: In the previous article, we explored the transition from the static kill chain to the dynamic kill web in future warfare scenarios. Now, let?s look at how fighter jets fit into this new model. That requires a review of the fighters being flown by the U.S. and our allies today. We also need to consider what the Russians and the Chinese are doing with their fighter jets.

Introduced in the 1970s and still widely used today, MIL-DTL-38999 circular crimp connectors are sometimes taken for granted. Their long history and general popularity make it easy to overlook the ability of the broad 38999-connector family to help engineers solve contemporary size, weight, and power (SWaP) challenges. In fact, the 38999-connector family continues to adapt new composite materials and form factors to meet demanding weight and size requirements, while design derivatives have evolved to support higher speeds and higher frequencies in this surprisingly versatile I/O connector family.