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SCOTTSDALE, Arizona. Our new website and new URL: MilitaryEmbedded.com are now live. We are very excited. A big thank you to our development team, production team, and editorial staff for bringing our new online home together. Check out some highlights and key categories below and then browse away.

WARFARE EVOLUTION BLOG. Unmanned autonomous fighter planes are the most interesting elements in the advanced kill web, even more intriguing than the manned super-stealthy 6G fighter planes we discussed in previous articles. UCAVs (Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles) have the potential to render our enemy’s A2/AD (anti-access/area-denial) strategies completely obsolete. These platforms appear under different names: Loyal Wingman, ATC (Airpower Teaming System), Dark Sword, Taranis, Remote Carriers, nEUROn, and Sidekicks. To understand how they enhance the kill web, we need to look at their specifications and their missions.

Defense funding for unmanned and artificial intelligence (AI) systems is increasing by leaps and bounds, driving the need for computing systems to be smaller, faster, and more compatible. The demand for compatibility and commonality follows the convergence of open architecture initiatives like the Sensor Open Systems Architecture (SOSA), C4ISR/EW [electronic warfare] Modular Open Suite of Standards (CMOSS), and Modular Open Radio Frequency Architecture (MORA), just to name a few.

Laptops used by everyday consumers rest in relatively benign environments, indoors at room temperature, and are rarely, if ever exposed to harsh weather like rain or snow. Military laptop users face much more extreme environments than the average desktop user and need a laptop that can perform in harsh conditions. Warfighters also need mobile computing that can work basically in the middle of nowhere, that maintain connectivity in remote locations.

EVENT HORIZON BLOG: I've been heavily involved in a standards effort called the Sensor Open Systems Architecture, or SOSA. SOSA is interesting because it’s a government/industry consortium formed with the goal to create a hardware/software standard aimed at making it much easier to integrate and maintain defense sensor systems. As it is a huge undertaking with something like 70 organizations participating and usually upwards to 150 people at each semi-monthly face-to-face, there is a lot to say about SOSA. Today I'll discuss VPX and SOSA, but I’ll be touching on different aspects of SOSA over the coming months as there is far too much to tackle in a single blog post.

My report covers the state of the VITA technology industry in particular and of the board and system industry in general, in markets such as aerospace, defense, space, industrial, and more.

WARFARE EVOLUTION BLOG: The best way to start this essay is with a simple formula that shows how the kill web manipulates time and space, and then explain how it works: t= (d/s)/i. Time (t) is equal to distance (d) divided by speed (s), divided by intelligence (i). The more intelligence we have about the enemy, the more we can manipulate time and space.

As the military-electronics industry continues to transition toward commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products, established standards, and modular designs, the need for tailored solutions remains – there is a middle ground. In this, Part 1 of a two-part blog series, the benefits and drawbacks of custom parts are discussed.

Despite not being able to proceed with Aerospace Tech Week this month in France we do at least now at last have some positive news. The event is now officially confirmed as being postponed to 24-26th March 2021 in Toulouse again at the same venue. We are therefore delaying the return to Munich until 2022.

Hello and welcome to Event Horizon, my periodic blog about embedded technologies, defense systems, and anything generally tech-related that I might find interesting (and hopefully you as well). I’d like to thank the kind folks at OpenSystems Media, and especially John McHale, Editorial Director at Military Embedded Systems Magazine for giving me a little space where I can muse on various topics that strike my interests.

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.

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.