This piece from SpaceVPX founder Patrick Collier and Michael Walmsley of TE Connectivity, the designers of the VPX and SpaceVPX interconnect, covers the basics of SpaceVPX, recent changes, and the importance of the standard interconnect, which drives down cost, results in a more robust supply chain, and maintains a path for future expansion.

Prototype designs for the Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program, one of the U.S. Army’s most important and game-changing initiatives, are fully embracing the open architecture design philosophy for the next-generation helicopters that will replace its fleet of OH58 Kiowa Warrior, AH64 Apache, and UH60 Black Hawk rotorcraft.

Although AI systems are still quite far from human-like reasoning, recent developments in artificial general intelligence (AGI) are making enormous strides in the right direction. This reality will revolutionize sensors, weapon systems, and other defense embedded systems.

Deep learning is empowering systems with unrivaled abilities to perceive their environments visually and to make sense of human language through voice or text. But what do face recognition in family photos or customer-service chatbots have to do with advanced space tech and military intelligence-gathering? Quite a bit, it turns out, and the common denominator is data.

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.

Small satellites and their reduced size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C) requirements are challenging microelectronics suppliers to deliver the performance of commercial technology while also maintaining reliability. In this podcast, I discuss these challenges with Tom Smelker, vice president and general manager for Mercury Systems Custom Microelectronic Solutions in Phoenix, Arizona.

Spaceflight is exciting again. Not that it ever stopped being exciting, but the launch of the Dragon by SpaceX and enthusiasm about watching a new type of rocket take humans into space again might be just a little more inspiring than, say, launching satellites into orbit.