One of the main challenges in network-centric warfare operations is when critical systems do not achieve an effective level of service availability, which implies a service is always available and therefore operational.

High availability is a key requirement for many military embedded systems. To meet this need, OpenSAF, an open source middleware implementation of the Service Availability Forum's high-availability specifications, provides new options for this critical software layer. This open source middleware offers several benefits, comprises the HPI and AIS open specifications, and is highly suitable for use in security-conscious environments.