New NAVAIR HOST open standards framework website launches
NewsJuly 02, 2025
Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR)--PATUXENT RIVER, Md. NAVAIR’s open standards framework, Hardware Open Systems Technologies (HOST), launched its new website, which can be found at https://www.navair.navy.mil/host/.
HOST -- a standards framework that applies a modular open systems approach (MOSA) to ruggedized high-performance embedded computing -- specifically provides a hardware framework based on open architecture standards for developing open embedded systems for the U.S. military. The HOST standard ensures that all developed HOST components use standardized open hardware interfaces, which means that HOST components are interchangeable to newer technologies and can be added, removed, or replaced throughout the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) platforms life cycle.
According to the new website, HOST supports the rapid evolution of capabilities and reduces overall costs by avoiding expensive nonrecurring cost, avoiding vendor lock through proprietary technologies, and increasing competition in the marketplace.
The HOST Standard is currently under active development and is sponsored by the NAVAIR PMA-209 Avionics Architecture Team. Unlike the other open architecture standards, HOST is not a consortium-managed standard and is instead maintained by NAVAIR, which engages a team of academicians and industry members to coordinate with integrators, module vendors, and related standards groups such as VITA.
NAVAIR sources report that the newest update -- HOST Version 5.2 -- will be released soon by the NAVAIR PMA-209 Avionics Architecture Team, also known as the Open Architecture Engagement team.
