Following what has been a busy springtime returning to in-person military conferences and trade shows like the Sea-Air-Space Expo and SOFIC, launching our own virtual events, and keeping up with all the latest defense electronics news and trends like the Department of Defense’s (DoD’s) modular open systems approach (MOSA) strategies, the summer slowdown has been sweet.

Enthusiastic crowds were a theme at each show I attended over the last six months, as folks were eager to be back among their defense industry colleagues, clients, and partners. None were more excited than attendees at the annual Special Operations Forces Industry Conference (SOFIC) in Tampa, Florida, a show put on by the National Defense Industries Association (NDIA). Navigating the exhibition aisles of that show was like trying to walk through a crowded bar, as this was SOFIC’s first in-person get-together since 2019.

In this issue, Military Embedded Systems hosts an online roundtable with avionics software experts, discussing military avionics technology, design trends, and challenges.The panelists discuss the complexities of multicore architectures, safety-certification challenges, securing of flight-control systems, and how modular open system approach (MOSA) initiatives like The Open Group’s Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE) Technical Standard impact military manned and unmanned avionics.

Innovation in military avionics platforms is being driven by funding for new avionics platforms and upgrades of current systems plus new investment in unmanned aircraft system (UAS) programs. Avionics requirements are also demanding a modular open systems approach (MOSA) for nearly every refresh or platform.

Experts from the U.S. Army and defense industry discussed Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) strategies for defense electronic applications in air, land, sea, and spectrum domains at our first annual MOSA Virtual Summit.

We’re on the eve of celebrating of OpenSystems Media’s 40th anniversary with the 40th birthday of our first publication, VMEbus Systems, which directly follows the 40th anniversary of the VMEbus standard this year. However, the celebrations are bittersweet as we also mourn the loss of one of our company’s founding partners and the father of our current President Pat Hopper: Mike Hopper. Mike passed away on October 24. He was 84.

AUSA 2021 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. Military Embedded Systems Group Editorial Director John McHale and Technology Editor Emma Helfrich discuss what they saw on Day 2 of AUSA 2021, from sensor technology to imaging solutions to satellite communications and how the Army is adapting 5G tech.