For critical and intelligent deployed embedded modules, air-flow-through (AFT) cooling describes an approach that brings the coolant much closer to heat-generating electronics than standard conduction-cooled approaches. As a result, compared to conduction cooling, AFT increases the amount of power that can be cooled and decreases device temperatures.

For defense applications, responsiveness, accuracy, and precision have never been more critical to mission success. Expanding the connectivity bandwidth within and between systems enables faster time-to-solution and greater mission capability through higher data resolution and fidelity, all of these with reduced latency.

For many COTS vendors and VITA members, the Tri-Services Memo issued in January 2019 by the secretaries of the Army, Navy and Air Force was the highest validation of several decades of their combined efforts. The memorandum clearly stated that, going forward, modular open systems approach (MOSA) supporting standards “should be included in all requirements, programming and development activities for future weapon system modifications and new start development programs to the maximum extent possible.” Examples of MOSA standards include the Sensor Open Systems Architecture (SOSA) and CMOSS, both of which rely on OpenVPX hardware as their foundation.

ASHBURN, Va. Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions launched a new Fabric100 suite of 3U and 6U OpenVPX modules and systems intended to enable 100 Gbit Ethernet and high-performance PCIe Gen4 interconnect speeds to rugged deployable computing architectures. 

DAVIDSON, N.C. Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions will provide flight test instrumentation (FTI) equipment in support of the U.S Air Force F-35 Technology Refresh 3 (TR-3) program under the terms of a $24 million contract from Nellis Air Force Base. 

The partnership between Curtiss-Wright and BAE Systems to develop a standardized Modular Open System Approach (MOSA) open architecture for next-generation ground vehicles is an example of how the benefits of MOSA-aligned open standards can be leveraged to deliver new capabilities to next-generation ground vehicles, such as the U.S. Army’s Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFV).

Military wireless networks in the military can be secured through the proven use of NSA-approved Commercial Solutions for Classified (CSfC) encryption. CSfC is a set of approved architectures using two layers of commercial encryption (as opposed to Type 1 military-only encryption) for access to classified networks. The layers, software and/or hardware, must be developed independently and validated to international Common Criteria standards. Today, it’s possible to rapidly set up a mobile, extendable wireless network qualified to Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 9 [denoting that a technology has been “flight proven” during a successful mission]; using Wi-Fi 6, multi-­hundreds of megabits of throughput can be rapidly deployed in the field.