Military Embedded Systems

WASHINGTON. U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), Army, Navy, and Air Force leaders highlight the ineup at the MOSA Industry and Government Summit & Expo taking place at the Gaylord Convention Center in National Harbor, Md., June 17 -18.

ANDOVER, Mass. BlueHalo selected digital signal processing (DSP) hardware from Mercury Systems to support the U.S. Space Force (USSF)’s Satellite Communication Augmentation Resource (SCAR) program.

RESTON, Va. -- Metron Inc. and Cellula Robotics, USA Inc. joined hands in a partnership to expand uncrewed underwater vehicle (UUV) capabilities for advanced operations in dynamic environments. Company officials say the new agreement will leverage the expertise of each company and address specific technical gaps in the UUV defense and offshore energy markets especially for long duration, multi-payload mission operations where communications are often denied or restricted.

ARLINGTON, Va. AeroVironment (AV) engineers unveiled the company’s Autonomy Retrofit Kit (ARK) and AVACORE software to increase autonomous system effectiveness and reduce operator workload.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) and the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) have teamed up to accelerate adoption of commercial dual-use technology solutions, while enhancing the advanced education of defense leaders necessary to employ them.

OWEGO, N.Y. Lockheed Martin, Intel Corp., and Altera, an Intel Company, are joining hands to support the Stimulating Transition for Advanced Microelectronics Packaging (STAMP) program for the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD R&E). Lockheed Martin will develop a low size, weight, and power (SWaP), Sensor Open Systems Architecture (SOSA) aligned airborne electronic defense system, leveraging the Altera Multi-Chip Package (MCP2) for expected use on the U.S. Navy’s MH-60R multi-mission helicopter. 

MANAMA, Bahrain. U.S. and the United Kingdom Naval Forces conducted a bilateral mine countermeasures exercise called Poseidon's Chalice in the Arabian Sea from Feb. 24 - March 16. The exercise’s primary focus was to maximize training opportunities in mine warfare and explosive ordinance disposal training, according to a U.S. Navy release.

WASHINGTON. BAE Systems won an additional $25 million firm-fixed-price modification to a previously awarded $181 million contract from the U.S. Marine Corps for more Amphibious Combat Vehicles (ACVs) under the Marine Corps’ fourth order for full-rate production (FRP).

ANNAPOLIS, Md. Northrop Grumman engineers completed assembly of a full-size uncrewed underwater vehicle (UUV) prototype they dubbed Manta Ray. The UUV is an extra-large glider that will operate long-duration, long-range, and payload-capable undersea missions without need for on-site human logistics.

MOORESTOWN, N.J. Engineers from Lockheed Martin demonstrated the first live track AN/SPY-7(V)1 radar for the Aegis System Equipped Vessel (ASEV), for the Japanese navy. The Japan Ministry of Defense will field two ASEVs with the SPY-7 radar system.

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona. Maj. Gen. James Poss (USAF Ret), CEO of ISR Ideas, will keynote the Uncrewed Systems Virtual Conference, being held April 2 at 11 a.m. EST. Dawn M.K. Zoldi (Colonel, USAF, Ret.), Founder & CEO of P3 Tech Consulting LLC and host of the Dawn of Drones Podcast, will host the keynote session.

While it was officially released in the famous Dept. of Defense Tri-Service Memo five years ago, the concept of a modular open systems approach (MOSA) has been around for some time and is not a new concept, said Jason Dirner, in his keynote address at the MOSA [Modular Open Systems Approach] Virtual Summit held February 22 and hosted by myself and Military Embedded Systems. What is new, however, Dirner said, is “common MOSA, [where] you have multiple programs and services conforming to the same standard,” which enables a greater level of reuse and portability across the community.

Recruiting female minds to pursue degrees in electrical engineering and to work in the defense industry is a challenge that needs to be addressed by industry and government, Maria Ho, Deputy Director for Government and Strategic Programs, Aerospace & Defense at Analog Devices Inc. (ADI), told me in my podcast. Maria says that recruitment needs to start at the high-school level or even earlier to inspire young female students to select engineering as a degree and career path. Government programs, industry internships like those offered by ADI, mentorship, and even popular culture all play a role in solving this problem, she notes. Maria also talks about her own career in engineering and the defense industry while also addressing key technology trends in military RF and microwave designs. Edited excerpts follow.

Intel official announced that the company is spinning off their nProgram Solutions Group (PSG) as a standalone company, named Altera, the group’s original name when first acquired by intel in 2015. Altera’s field programmable gate array (FPGA) devices are key components in military sensor and signal procession applications like radar, electronic warfare, signals intelligence, and others.

SCOTTSDALE, AZ. Jason Dirner – MOSA Chief Engineer, MOSA Management Office , Engineering & Systems Integration (ESI) Directorate, U.S. Army DEVCOM C5ISR Center, will keynote the MOSA Virtual Summit, being held Feb 27 at 11 am Est. Other sessions include: Leveraging MOSA for C5ISR, Electronic Warfare, and Radar Applications; MOSA at the Edge — C5ISR Sensors Across Multiple Domains;  and MOSA Strategies for Military Aviation Platforms.

Engineers at Echodyne have enhanced the capability of small radars for military applications such a counter-UAS [uncrewed aircraft system]. In a podcast I did with Tom Driscoll, co-founder and CTO of Echodyne, he and I discussed how his team’s metamaterials electronically scanned array (MESA) radar system does things that traditional active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar systems cannot, the company’s unique business model, and how it leverages commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components like Xilinx FPGAs [field-programmable gate arrays]. Tom also shared details about his background in metamaterials and how he once designed an RF invisibility cloak using them. Edited excerpts follow.

The defense technology community has a recruitment challenge on its hands when it comes to competing with the commercial technology world for engineering talent; this reality is especially true when it comes to growing the pool of women engineers. In this podcast with Maria Ho, Deputy Director for Government and Strategic Programs, Aerospace & Defense at Analog Devices, we discuss how to encourage female students to explore engineering careers, the importance of STEM in schools, and the ways in which Analog Devices invests in young engineers. Maria also talks about those people who have inspired her in her career and how popular culture can help inspire learners.

We’re here on the first day of the 60th Annual AOC International Symposium & Convention, held at the Gaylord Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland. Electronic warfare (EW), spectrum dominance, and signals intelligence and the RF, microwave, and signal-processing technologies behind them are key components of both the conference and the exhibition.

For a take on the AOC event, and a look at the EW market, I sat down with Jerome Patoux, Director of Aerospace & Defense for the Aerospace, Defense, and RF Products Business Unit of Analog Devices. Here are some excerpts:

Leveraging metamaterials for radar designs, engineers at Echodyne are enhancing the capability of small radars for applications such a counter-UAS [uncrewed aircraft systems] in military applications. In this podcast with Tom Driscoll, Co-founder and CTO of Echodyne, he and I discuss how his team’s metamaterials electronically scanned array (MESA) radar system does thing that traditional active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar systems cannot, their unique business model, and how they leverage commercial-off-shelf (COT) components like Xilinx FPGAs.

The U.S. Navy’s Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) was an early adopter and supporter of the Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE) Technical Standard and is at the forefront of open architecture development and leveraging modular open systems approach strategies (MOSA) in Navy avionics applications. During the MOSA Summit & Expo I sat down with Capt. Jarrod Hair, U.S. Navy, PMA-209 Program Manager, where we covered how NAVAIR leverages MOSA initiatives like FACE, the challenges with data rights, and how the defense community – government and industry – is embracing MOSA. Along those lines, at the NAVAIR booth at the expo, Capt. Hair hosted keynote speaker Hon. Nickolas Guertin, where he led an interactive discussion elaborating on current MOSA efforts in his role as Director of Operational Test and Evaluation. Guertin is a White House nominee for Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, and Acquisition.

Edited excerpts of the interview are below.