Military & Aerospace Electronics - February 2019

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F E B R UA RY 2 0 19

RELEVANT. TRUSTED.
ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES.

Portable
nuclear power
plants
Military researchers are
considering deployable
nuclear power to
supply warfighters on
the front lines. PAGE 4

Rugged
backplanes
and embedded
computing
Today’s rugged
chassis designs offer
fast throughput,
ruggedization, and
advanced cooling. PAGE 18

militaryaerospace.com

Electronic warfare
on the ground Cyber warfare experts
are rediscovering
electronic warfare
(EW) to help put boots
on the ground. PAGE 10

1902mae_c1-c4.indd 1 2/4/19 3:17 PM


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1902mae_c1-c4.indd 2 2/4/19 4:38 PM
FEBRUARY 2019
VOL. 30, NO. 2

2 TRENDS

4 NEWS

4 IN BRIEF

10 SPECIAL REPORT
COvER STORY 

Electronic warfare on the ground


U.S. Army cyber warfare experts are
rediscovering electronic warfare (EW) for ground
operations, as centralized command authorities FOLLOW US
combine cyber and EW operations into a new for must have
discipline known as spectrum warfare.
industry insights,
18 TECHNOLOGY FOCUS
articles and more.
Rugged backplanes and high-
performance embedded computing
Today’s rugged chassis designs offer fast
throughput, ruggedization, advanced cooling,
adherence to emerging industry standards,
and options for optical fiber interconnects.

25 RF & MICROWAVE

28 UNMANNED VEHICLES

29 ELECTRO-OPTICS WATCH

30 PRODUCT APPLICATIONS

@MilAero
33 NEW PRODUCTS
www.twitter.com/MilAero

Military & Aerospace Electronics® (ISSN 1046-9079), Volume 30, No. 2. Military & Aerospace Electronics is published 12 times a year, monthly by PennWell® Corporation,
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www.militaryaerospace.com MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 9 1

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trends BY JOHN KELLER, EDITOR IN CHIEF 

Open-systems standards like SOSA could promote


genuine embedded computing interoperability
OpenVPX design standards represent interrogate sensor data to distill ac- Steve Gudknecht, product marketing
the backbone of today’s aerospace and tionable information. manager at Elma Electronic Inc. in Fre-
defense embedded computing. This More to the point, however, ex- mont, Calif. “So then OpenVPX came out,
family of open-systems standards of- perts in the embedded computing in- and the user community did address
fers access to the highest-performing dustry say SOSA functionally is win- some interoperability. Now, sitting on
commercially developed processing nowing-down cumbersome OpenVPX the standards boards are not just suppli-
technologies, promises interoperability, standards into a useful subset for aero- ers, but the Army, Navy, and Air Force.
mixes RF and optical interconnects in space and defense applications. SO- SOSA takes that OpenVPX standard and
the same system, and is helping bring SA’s potential to tame the OpenVPX boils it down even further for interop-
the data center into ruggedized de- monster could make interoperability erability and tri-branch convergence.”
ployed applications. of third-party embedded computing Military involvement in setting the
Despite its advantages, however, modules a reality, which could save MOSA and SOSA standards helps keep
there’s a consistent rap against Open- costs and enhance competition in the OpenVPX in a shape that’s attractive
VPX; critics say it’s essentially a collec- embedded computing industry. to the military. “One of the objectives
tion of proprietary embedded computing SOSA falls under an umbrella of of SOSA and many other standards is
technologies masquerading as open-sys- emerging standards called Modular to have complete interoperability of as
tems standards. The structure of Open- Open Systems Approach (MOSA). In many vendors possible in plug-and-play
VPX allows a staggeringly wide variety addition to SOSA includes Future Air- architectures — to define the standards
of company-specific technologies, which borne Capability Environment (FACE); narrowly enough so that is possible, yet
can make interoperability among prod- Vehicular Integration for C4ISR/EW In- to have advanced functions available,”
ucts from different suppliers difficult at teroperability (VICTORY); and Open explains Rodger Hosking vice president
best, and at worst can lock companies Mission Systems/Universal Command of Pentek Inc. in Upper Saddle River,
in to long-term supplier agreements — and Control Interface (OMS/UCI). N.J. “If the standard is too open, the in-
just like the bad old days of proprietary One of the big difference between teroperability suffers.”
architectures that a quarter-century ago the MOSA standards and OpenVPX is SOSA may be the best thing in long
gave rise to commercial off-the-shelf serious participation of the U.S. mili- time to enable the U.S. military to spec-
(COTS) designs in the first place. tary services on the standards commit- ify embedded computing systems that
That all may be changing, howev- tees; it’s not just private companies for- are economical, powerful, upgradable,
er, as an emerging industry standard mulating standards in hopes that will and competitive, says Mark Littlefield,
called Sensor Open Systems Architec- adhere to them. Ensuring that embed- defense vertical product manager at
ture (SOSA) catches on. SOSA, adminis- ded computing modules from many Kontron America in San Diego.
tered by The Open Group in San Fran- different vendors will work and play The result of the SOSA effort will be
cisco, revolves around OpenVPX, and well together in a variety of backplane “an open-systems architecture for de-
focuses on single-board computers and databus architectures perhaps offers fense that works,” Littlefield said last
how they can be integrated into sensor the biggest payoff of SOSA. month in a presentation at the 2019
platforms. It involves a standardized “Before, VPX was so loose that it was VITA Embedded Tech Trends (ETT) con-
approach on how embedded systems difficult to do interoperability,” says ference in San Diego. 

2 F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 9 MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS www.militaryaerospace.com

1902mae02-03.indd 2 2/4/19 3:17 PM


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PM
news
Global demand for military Pentagon reinforces mandate
wearable computers to
grow by 5.85 percent for open-systems standards like
Global demand for military computers
will grow by one-third over the next five
SOSA, FACE, and VICTORY
years, from $7.9 billion in 2018 to $10.5 WASHINGTON — Top U.S. military leaders
billion in 2023, predict analysts at market are reinforcing their commitment to
researcher ASD Media BV in Amsterdam. open-systems standards for embed-
Militaries around the globe are focusing ded computing and electronics design,
on deploying more portable and techno- as outlined in a memorandum signed
logically advanced computers in war zones. last month by the secretaries of the U.S.
Ruggedness of military devices such as lap- Navy, Army, and Air Force.
tops, handhelds, and wearables is necessary The memo, directed to the Penta-
to survive and function properly in extreme gon’s service acquisition executives and
conditions such as extreme heat and cold. program executive officers, calls out
Military demand for wearable computers, existing and emerging open-systems
meanwhile, is expected to show healthy standards that fall under the umbrel-
growth over the next five years. la of the so-called Modular Open Sys- Military avionics is a big focus for the
tems Approach (MOSA) project. Pentagon’s newly voiced commitment to
Raytheon to build additional Specifically, the memo mentions open-systems electronic design standards.
radar fire-control systems the Sensor Open Systems Architec-
for Aegis ship electronics ture (SOSA); Future Airborne Capabil- standard, focuses on single-board com-
Shipboard electronics experts at the ity Environment (FACE); Vehicular In- puters and how they can be integrat-
Raytheon Co. are building additional MK 99 tegration for C4ISR/EW Interoperability ed into sensor platforms. It involves a
fire-control systems for the Aegis weapon (VICTORY); and Open Mission Systems/ standardized approach on how embed-
system aboard U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke- Universal Command and Control Inter- ded systems interrogate sensor data to
class destroyers and Ticonderoga-class cruis- face (OMS/UCI). distill actionable information.
ers under terms of a $72.5 million contract. Many of these and similar electron- The Pentagon-backed FACE open avi-
Officials are asking the Raytheon Integrated ics design industry standards are un- onics standard is to enable developers
Defense Systems segment in Marlborough, der supervision of The Open Group in to create and deploy applications across
Mass., to build MK 99 Aegis fire-control sys- San Francisco. military aviation systems through a
tems equipment, and fulfill Aegis modern- “MOSA supporting standards should common operating environment. It
ization production requirements. The MK 99 be included in all requirements, pro- seeks to increase capability, security,
fire-control system communicates with the gramming, and development activities safety, and agility while also reduc-
missile-control station, notifying it of the air for future weapon system modification ing costs.
threat, and then illuminates the missile’s tar- and new-start development programs VICTORY aims at military vehicle
get. The MK 99 also controls the loading and to the maximum extent possible,” the electronics (vetronics) components,
arming of shipboard missiles aboard Burke- memo lays out. subsystems, and platforms interop-
class destroyers and Ticonderoga-class cruis- Signing this memo are Navy Secre- erability. It is for multi-vendor imple-
ers. The MK 99 launches and provides ter- tary Richard Spencer, Army Secretary mentation, and is considered a critical
minal guidance for the ship’s missiles, and Mark Esper, and Air Force Secretary enabler for the Assured Position, Navi-
controls the continuous-wave illuminating Heather Wilson. gation and Time (APNT) program; sev-
radar to provide a high probability of kill.  SOSA, which revolves around the eral programs of record require VIC-
VITA OpenVPX embedded computing TORY standards. VICTORY focuses on

4  F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 9   MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICSwww.militaryaerospace.com

1902mae04-09.indd 4 2/4/19 3:17 PM


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PM
news
three core areas: tactical systems capabilities; host and
network system capabilities; and vehicle system and lo-
gistics capabilities.
The OMS/UCI standard concerns a common message
set that enables interoperability across several different
manned and unmanned weapon systems. It focuses on in-
teroperable plug-and-play software applications that run
on a wide variety of systems, and enable designers to inte-
grate new capabilities quickly in much the same way that
smart phone users download applications.
It establishes a common messaging set for machine-to-ma-
chine communications in aircraft command and control. It
provides an open-systems standard for easy integration of
new services and reuse of services among different programs.
“We have reviewed the capabilities of these common
standards,” the service secretaries’ memo states. “We de-
termined the continued implementation of these standards,
and further development of MOSA standards in areas where
we lack them, is vital to our success.”
The service secretaries say the Pentagon’s service ac-
quisition executives will publish specific implementation

Connect
guidance for military acquisition programs, and encourage
standardization executives to continue developing open-sys-
tems standards where necessary to ensure electronics in-

with us for teroperability, rapid systems development, secure opera-


tion, and fast military deployment. 

all the latest For more information contact The Open Group online at www.opengroup.org.

in Military & Military eyes mobile nuclear reactor


Aerospace for rapidly deployable atomic power
news. BY John Keller
ARLINGTON, Va. — U.S. military researchers are surveying in-
dustry to find companies able to develop a small mobile
nuclear reactor for forward-deployed fighting forces on
land and at sea.
Officials of the Washington Headquarters Services ac-
quisition directorate in Arlington, Va., have issued a re-
quest for information (RFI-01182019-RD-WHS019) for the
Small Mobile Nuclear Reactor project.
The Washington Headquarters Services is issuing this
www.facebook.com/MilitaryAerospaceElectronics/ RFI on behalf of the U.S. Office of the Under Secretary of De-

https://twitter.com/MilAero fense for Research and Engineering, OUSD(R&E).


This deployable atomic power plant should produce from
1 to 10 megawatts of electricity; weight no more than 40

www.militaryaerospace.com

1902mae04-09.indd 6 2/4/19 3:17 PM


news
tons; de deployable by truck, ship, or C-17 cargo aircraft; to enable a future demonstration of a small mobile nucle-
use passive air cooling; and be inherently safe such that a ar reactor prototype design for a safe, reliable, and nearly
core meltdown is impossible in power and cooling is lost. unlimited resource in military rapid-response scenarios.
This portable nuclear power plant should take no longer Small mobile nuclear reactors could make the U.S. mil-
than three days to set up; should operate itary domestic infrastructure resilient to
for more than three years without refueling; an electrical grid attack and fundamental-
and take no longer than seven days to shut ly change the logistics of forward operating
down and remove. It should offer semiau- bases by making more energy available and
tonomous operations with no manned con- by drastically simplifying complex fuel lo-
trol, and run on high-assay low enriched gistical lines, which rely primarily on die-
uranium (HALEU) advance gas reactor (AGR) sel-powered generators.
tri-structural isotropic (TRISO) fuel. Companies like General Atomics in San
Energy is a critical enabling component Tremendous electrical power Diego and NuScale Power LLC in Portland,
demands of the U.S. military are
of military operations, and demand for it Ore., already are working on portable nu-
spawning ideas for a portable
will continue to increase over time, re- clear power for industrial and humanitar-
nuclear power plant for forward-
searchers say. Today’s military operations deployed warfighters. ian efforts.
has amplified the need for alternative en- Comments from industry will help Pen-
ergy sources to enable mobility in forward land-based and tagon officials decide whether to scrap the notion of a por-
maritime military operations. table nuclear power plant, or proceed with a multi-phase
To meet anticipated power needs, military researchers are prototype project for a small mobile nuclear reactor in sup-
asking industry for innovative technologies and approaches port of Project Dilithium.

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1/14/19 3:39 PM
PM
news
The Pentagon may fund as many as
three different reactor designs during
Navy bulks-up anti-submarine warfare
a project’s yearlong first phase. The (ASW) capability for surface warships
project’s second phase would downse-
lect to one design. Pentagon research- BY John Keller
ers could decide on whether to pursue WASHINGTON — Undersea warfare experts

a deployable nuclear power plan by as at the Lockheed Martin Corp. Rota-


early as this spring. ry and Mission Systems segment in
Companies interested were asked to Manassas, Va., will provide the U.S.
email five-page capability statements by Navy with AN/SQQ-89A(V)15 anti-sub-
8 Feb. 2019 to [email protected]. Re- marine warfare (ASW) systems for sur-
searchers would like to hear from uni- face warships under terms of a $77.8
versities, university-affiliated research million order announced in January.
centers, federally funded research cen- Officials of the Naval Sea Systems
Lockheed Martin is providing the U.S. Navy
ters, private or public companies, and Command in Washington are asking
with AN/SQQ-89A(V)15 anti-submarine
government research laboratories.  Lockheed Martin for production of the warfare (ASW) systems for surface warships
Navy’s AN/SQQ-89A(V)15 surface ship like the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer,
Email questions to [email protected]. More in- undersea warfare systems. shown above.
formation is online at https://www.fbo.gov/spg/ The AN/SQQ-89A(V)15 is an under-
ODA/WHS/REF/RFI-01182019-RD-WHS019/list- sea combat system that enables sur- localize, and track underwater con-
ing.html. face warships to search, detect, classify, tacts, and to attack or avoid enemy

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8   F E B R UA RY
MerSys_MAE_1902 1 2 0 1 9   MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICSwww.militaryaerospace.com
1/17/19 2:25 PM

1902mae04-09.indd 8 2/4/19 3:17 PM


news
submarines, floating, tethered, or bot- Aegis combat systems being installed and Owego, N.Y.; Manassas, Va.; and
tom-attacked mines, and torpedoes. onboard new Arleigh Burke-class de- Tewksbury, Mass., and should be fin-
The order is for development, in- stroyers. A back-fit program is in place ished by May 2021. 
tegration, and production of future to retrofit existing DDG-51 class ships
advanced-capability build and tech- and Ticonderoga-class cruisers. For more information contact Lockheed Martin
nical-insertion baselines of AN/SQQ- On this order Lockheed Martin will Rotary and Mission Systems online at www.lock-
89A(V)15 undersea warfare systems. do the work in Lemont Furnace, Pa.; heedmartin.com, or Naval Sea Systems Command
The AN/SQQ-89A(V)15 uses active Clearwater, Fla.; Syracuse, Hauppauge, at www.navsea.navy.mil.
and passive sonar to enable Navy Ar-
leigh Burke-class destroyers and Ticon-
deroga-class cruisers to detect, locate,
track, and attack hostile submarines,
mines, and torpedoes. POWER YOUR
CRITICAL
The system provides multi-sensor
track correlation and target track man-

MISSION
agement control, and forwards data to
the ship’s weapons and decision-sup-

TODAY
port systems. The AN/SQQ-89A(V)15
works together with the ship’s active
and passive hull sonar, multi-function
towed array, sonobuoy processing, tor-
pedo alerts, fire-control system, sensor
performance predictions, embedded
operator, and team training systems.
The AN/SQQ-89A(V)15 has an open
electronics architecture to accommo-
date system upgrades, and makes the
most of data accessibility and system
modules, Lockheed Martin officials say.
Its software application programs are
isolated from hardware.
Virtual Network Computing (VNC) High Reliability
Solutions for High
enables rapid re-allocation of operator
console displays to suit the tactical sit-
uation, Lockheed Martin officials say. Reliability Programs
Recent and planned upgrades to the
VPT provides proven DC-DC converters
AN/SQQ-89A(V)15 include improved au- and EMI filters for leading global space,
tomated torpedo detection, sonar per- military, industrial, and avionics programs.
formance prediction, advanced active
sonar processing, re-designed active
displays to reduce operator loading,
and integrated training and logistics. www.vptpower.com
The AN/SQQ-89 is integrated with
the Aegis combat system, vertical
launch anti-submarine rocket (AS-
ROC) system. A variant of the AN/SQQ-
89A(V)15 is integrated with late-version
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
www.militaryaerospace.com
2---Y-------------V----------G-

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VPTInc_MAE_1902 1 1/23/19 3:54 PM
S P EC I A L REPORT

Electronic
warfare on
the ground
U.S. Army cyber warfare experts are
rediscovering electronic warfare (EW)
for ground operations, as centralized
command authorities combine cyber and
EW operations into a new discipline known U.S. Army Pacific Soldiers view video feed from a Phantom
4 Quad Copter during the Pacific Manned Unmanned–
as spectrum warfare. BY J.R. Wilson Initiative at Marine Corps Training Area Bellows, Hawaii.

The Pentagon defines Electronic Warfare (EW) as scattered throughout service organizations with its Cyber Com-
military action involving the use of electromagnet- mand — a 21st Century creation within all military branches
ic energy and directed energy to control the electro- and, most recently, recognized as a fifth domain of war (along
magnetic spectrum or to attack the enemy. EW con- with air, ground, sea and space) with the creation of the U.S. Cy-
sists of three divisions: electronic attack, electronic ber Command (USCYBERCOM) as the nation’s tenth Unified Com-
protection, and electronic support; EW is employed batant Command.
to create decisive, stand-alone effects or to support While those elevated cyber to a level never applied to EW, they
military operations by generating various levels of did not answer the question of where EW and cyber warfare be-
control, detection, denial, deception, disruption, deg- gin, end and overlap.
radation, exploitation, protection, and destruction. As of October 2018, Army leaders sought to resolve that by mi-
While its early history is debated, the first known grating their EW workforce to the cyber branch. They are going
use of an EW capability — the interception of wire- through a series of mobile training teams on how to do planning
less communications — occurred in 1904, during in the cyber domain as part of the Army’s new effort to insert
the Russo-Japanese War. cyber and electromagnetic activities cells organically within bri-
EW sometimes is considered to be interchange- gade combat teams to provide EW/cyber warfare domain plan-
able with cyber warfare, which involves the actions ning to commanders.
by a nation-state or trans-national organization to “The way that we’re transforming our electronic warfare pro-
attack and attempt to damage another nation’s com- fessionals is they will become cyber operators,” says Maj. Gen.
puters or information networks using such methods John Morrison, commander of the Cyber Center of Excellence.
as computer viruses or denial-of-service attacks. “They will be the face inside our brigade combat teams and our
The U.S. Army is the first American armed force to maneuver formations for cyber operational planning. They’re
combine the two, merging EW units and specialists complimentary. You cannot look at EW professionals and cyber

10  
F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 9   MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICSwww.militaryaerospace.com

1902mae10-17.indd 10 2/4/19 3:17 PM


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1902mae10-17.indd 111
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PM
S PECIAL REPORT

operators in isolation.” Morrison made defensive EW and cyber warfare capa- at certain frequencies in the spectrum.
his comments in May 2018 at the AF- bilities and the move toward more soft- “In the last couple of years, there has
CEA Defensive Cyber Operations sym- ware-defined systems, which began been prototyping of VMAX and VROD
posium in Baltimore. with the software-defined radio (SDR), handheld systems, so there is a desire
This new approach and related tech- where a single piece of hardware can to create offensive and defensive effects
nologies and warfighter training mark be repurposed in the field in real-time within the peer and near-peer arena,”
a significant change in the operations with software changes. explains Avetis Ioannisyan, director
of ground maneuver forces that also One of the most important EW ini- of the BAE Systems Adaptive Sensors
is likely to see effects on U.S. Marine tiatives today is the C4ISR/EW Modu- Group in Hudson, N.H. “The idea of hav-
Corps and Special Operations con- lar Open Suite of Standards (CMOSS), ing warfighters forward-deployed and
cepts of operations (CONOPs) and tac- which seeks to converge EW in such having EW capabilities is very valid,”
tics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs). a way as to leverage a lot more soft- Ioannisyan says. “Another, more vehic-
ware-defined radio, says David Jedy- ular, is Sabre Fury. These are designed
Crucial time nak, chief technology officer at the Cur- to inform TTP about the value and ca-
It comes at a crucial time for the U.S., tiss-Wright Corp. Defense Solutions pabilities of SIGINT for the warfighter.”
as Pentagon planning and emphasis Division in Ashburn, Va. Those tools were being delivered in
moves away from fighting asymmetric “That means you’re not limited to a late 2017 to the Army 1st Infantry Di-
wars in Southwest Asia against less ad- specific vehicle for transmit and receive
vanced enemy states, insurgents, and type applications, which gives you a lot
terrorist organizations. Now military more flexibility in terms of what hard-
forces are refocusing their attention on ware and software can be intermingled
potential conflicts with near-peer and on a platform,” Jedynak says.
peer adversaries in the Pacific and Eu- “That includes using one type of sen-
rope. It also is the first time in some six sor to cross-cue or provide a larger pic-
decades that the United States has not ture,” Jedynak continues. “For exam-
been the unquestioned military tech- ple, using a jammer’s power amplifier
nology leader. for broadcast communications or, in
Throughout the history of warfare, reverse, using a communications sys- The Lockheed Martin Symphony system is a
“boots on the ground” has been the tem as a jammer or comm gear, tuned radio-controlled improvised explosive
device (RCIED) defeat system. Symphony
catch phrase for the successful defeat appropriately, as a poor man’s SIGINT
provides global ground EW solutions to U.S.
and conquest of an enemy (the atomic [signals intelligence] — maybe more of forces and partner nations with the ability
bomb-forced surrender of World War a COMMINT [communications intelli- to defeat current and emerging IED threats
II Japan notwithstanding). In the 21st gence] — to add more nodes in terms and is interoperable with other jamming
Century, the value of individual warf- of spectrum warfare.” devices.e at Marine Corps Training Area
ighter has increased as they have be- Bellows, Hawaii.
come nodes in the battlespace network Tactical electronic warfare
— walking sensors and EW/cyber war- An example of this is the VMAX and vision’s 2nd Armored Brigade Combat
fare platforms to combat close proxim- VROD Dismounted Electronic Support/ Team at Fort Riley, Kan. At that time
ity enemy electronics like robots, ra- Attack system planned for insertion Army Lt. Gen. Paul Ostrowski, principal
dar installations, communications, and into tactical forces in Europe. VROD, military deputy to the Assistant Sec-
precision-guided munitions. Combined which stands for Versatile Radio Ob- retary of the Army for Acquisition, Lo-
with advanced vehicle-mounted EW ca- servation and Direction, detects elec- gistics and Technology (ASAALT), ex-
pabilities, they will be crucial to domi- tronic frequencies and creates a virtu- plained their value to the Senate Armed
nating the electromagnetic spectrum. al map of the electronic environment. Services Committee.
This expansion of EW capabili- VMAX, which stands for VROD Modu- “[Commanders now] have the sit-
ties across all ground forces also re- lar Adaptive Transmit, enables soldiers uational understanding of signals
flects the convergence of offensive and to conduct focused electronic attacks of interest in their area,” he told the

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1902mae10-17.indd 12 2/4/19 3:17 PM


S PECIAL REPORT

committee. “They then have the op- across all contested spaces to create integrate cyberspace, EW, and elec-
portunity to do two things: either strike windows of advantage across multiple tromagnetic spectrum operations as
that particular capability with respect domains that enable Joint Force free- part of joint combined arms opera-
to indirect fires or to jam it [with] a lim- dom of action to seize, retain and ex- tions to meet future operational envi-
ited jamming capability.” ploit the initiative. ronment challenges,” Dyes continued.
Spectrum is central to EW and cy- “The Army will operate in and “These operations provide command-
ber warfare. Because of this, dealing through cyberspace and the electro- ers the ability to conduct simultane-
with them as independent efforts in se- magnetic spectrum and will fully ous, linked maneuver in and through
curing military information networks
may create cyberspace or electromag-
netic spectrum vulnerabilities, Army
leaders believe.
The U.S. Army Cyber and Electronic Dawn Powers
Warfare Operations Field Manual, re-
leased in April 2017, outlines the ser-
vice’s thinking: “Employing cyberspace
VPX
and EW capabilities under a single plan-
ning, integration, and synchronization
Dawn’s PSC-6238 VITA
methodology increases the operation- 62 compliant 3U VPX Power
al commander’s ability to understand Supply for conduction
the environment, project power, and cooled systems is designed
synchronize multiple operations using to operate in a military
the same domain and environment.” environment over a wide
That has gained emphasis with range of temperatures
growing evidence — from operational at high power levels. Up to
doctrine and actual implementation — 800 Watts available power.
that China and Russia view information
operations and electromagnetic spec-
Onboard embedded RuSH™
technology. Switchable Battleshort
trum dominance as critical to any fu-
and NED functions.
ture conflict, especially, but not limit-
ed to, peer and near-peer.

Cyber and EW
Maj. Gen. Robert M. Dyes Jr., acting di- Dawn is the leader in VITA 62
rector of the Army Capabilities Inte- compliant power supplies for the
gration Center at Fort Eustis, Va., wrote mission critical market. Wide range of
a preface to The U.S. Army Concept
standard features, highly configurable
through custom firmware.
for Cyberspace and Electronic War-
fare Operations 2025-2040, released
in January 2018. “Defeating future en-
Rugged, Reliable and You need it right.
emies that possess advanced capa-
Ready. You want Dawn.
bilities calls for land forces operating
as part of integrated joint teams that
conduct simultaneous and sequential (510) 657-4444
operations across multiple domains,”
Dyes wrote. “In multi-domain battle,
dawnvme.com
future Army forces will fight and win

www.militaryaerospace.com MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS  F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 9   13

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S PECIAL REPORT

multiple domains and to engage adver- access to others,” the document con- environment,” BAE Systems’s Ioanni-
saries and populations where they live tinues. “Use of these capabilities has syan notes. “Typically, an EW attack be-
and operate. They also provide com- the potential to negate current Army gins with a change in jamming modes;
manders a full range of physical and combat power and technological over- some form of AI is required to do that
virtual, as well as kinetic and non-ki- match. Less capable adversaries will quickly. Future battles will be fought
netic, capabilities tailored into combi- also use a variety of improvised weap- across multiple domains and we must
nations that enhance the combat pow- ons and technologies, such as global win the first battle, which will be spec-
er of maneuver elements conducting positioning system jammers and ra- trum. We need SDR’s that can conform
joint combined operations.” dio-frequency weapons, that utilize the on the fly while under attack.”
This convergence essentially de- electromagnetic spectrum to exploit “The Army plans to continue to ac-
fines the electromagnetic spectrum, Army reliance on technology.” quire EW to support ground-based at-
rather than cyber warfare tack,” Ioannisyan contin-
alone, as the real fifth do- ues. “The leverage will come
main of war, as the spectrum when you have interoper-
becomes more crowded with ability between all the air-
military and civilian trans- borne and ground robotic
missions. In an urban con- systems. The Army already
flict, that greatly expands has demonstrated having a
potential targets and vulner- forward deployed unmanned
abilities — especially if the platform being controlled
rules of engagement call for from an Apache provides a
as little interference with or lot of value to the warfight-
damage to civilian systems er; a similar progression is
as possible. likely on the ground.”
“The future operational The rapid pace of technol-
environment will be more Army cyber operations specialists from the Expeditionary Cyber ogy advances — from mate-
Support Detachment, 782nd Military Intelligence Battalion (Cyber),
unpredictable, complex, and riel properties and switching
from Fort Gordon, Ga., provided offensive cyber operations as part
potentially dangerous than of the Cyber-Electromagnetic Activities (CEMA) Support to Corps architectures to ever-shrink-
today,” the EW/cyber warfare and Below (CSCB) program. ing components and pow-
concept document warns. er requirements — have
“The physical structure of cyberspace The role of autonomous systems increased the speed and capacity of
will be extremely vulnerable to attack The document also addresses the evolu- operations and the number of ways to
by an array of destructive weapons, in- tion of autonomous systems in the bat- attack the electromagnetic spectrum.
cluding high-power microwave muni- tlespace, from unmanned aerial vehicles “If you want to induce an electronic
tions and laser systems, which are in- (UAVs) to robots, with each generation effect on the enemy, jam them without
creasingly effective against digitized, relying on more and more advanced arti- being detected by using smart, low-pow-
miniaturized and integrated circuits. ficial intelligence (AI) capabilities. While er effects. You must use synchronous,
Because these challenges and chang- such systems will enhance the offen- smart techniques to be protected from
es can occur swiftly, the Army must sive and defensive capabilities of ground counter-EW,” Ioannisyan says.
adopt advanced cyberspace operations forces, they also comprise new dangers if “One enabler is signal fratricide, be-
capabilities at a more rapid rate than compromised by enemy EW/cyber war- ing able to maintain friendly C2 net-
current capability development time fare attacks, making fail-safe technolo- works while disrupting the enemy. If
lines, even while in a constrained fis- gies and software crucial to their con- you can do force structure, operate in a
cal environment. trol and data integrity. high signal-dense environment, adapt
“State and non-state actors will in- “We’ve been investing a tremendous to enemy actions, have threat agility
vest in capabilities to protect their ac- amount of money in machine learning and electronic protection and mitigate
cess to cyberspace and disrupt or deny and AI to automatically adapt to the signal fratricide, you will effectively

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1902mae10-17.indd 14 2/4/19 3:17 PM


S PECIAL REPORT

win the first battle for the electromag- “A quick reaction capability version off-network, operating on last-known-
netic space.” of EWPMT, Raven Claw is already de- data as well as real-time feeds for in-
Dramatic reductions in size, weight ployed in Europe for managing EW sys- telligent, actionable EW. [It] does more
and power (SWaP), combined with tems. It provides electronic warfare than just planning; it remotely controls
greater sensor range and sensitivity, officers with a first — the ability to op- EW systems [and can] provide RF signal
have enabled EW/cyber warfare capa- erate in the field without dependen- analysis and geolocation capabilities.”
bilities down to the individual warfight- cy on a host server or external data,” While some ground-based EW has
Srivastava says. “Now EWOs can be been fielded, most advanced prototypes

An electronic warfare specialist trains on the


Versatile Radio Observation and Direction
system at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

er level, revolutionizing the command-


er’s operational options. Employing
them as well on remote, robotic and au-
tonomous systems, including artillery
and rocket EW munitions, dramatical-
ly expands the conduct of electromag-
netic spectrum operations with small
signature platforms and minimal risk
to Army forces and non-combatants.

Ground-based electronic attack


“Ground-based electronic attack is cer-
Mil Rugged
tainly a critical capability for the fu-
ture,” points out Niraj Srivastava, man-
Cabinets
ager of EW Systems at Raytheon Space
Field Proven
and Airborne Systems in Cambridge,
Mass. “Tools like EWPMT [Electron- Mission Ready
ic Warfare Planning and Management
Tool] Raven Claw will enable opera- Full Speed Ahead
tors to manage the entire electromag-
netic spectrum. EWPMT Raven Claw
can coordinate electronic attack activ-
ities across multiple EW assets. It can With you at every stage!
identify and coordinate a whole host
of responses, everything from direc-
tion-finding to electronic attack to spe- Elma Electronic Inc. elma.com
cific signals of interest.”

www.militaryaerospace.com MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS  F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 9   15

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S PECIAL REPORT

undergoing real-world evaluations, as jamming, which is giving everybody “There are several communications
what the future of individual warfight- added flexibility in how they deal with paths that exist already and others
er and small unit EW will look like re- those,” Ottaviano continues. “It is all re- coming online that enable this data to
mains an open question, with the an- ally handled though the convergence be used across the battlespace,” Lock-
swer in constant flux.” of EW and cyber across multiple access heed Martin’s Ottaviano says. “As you
“It’s probably too early to tell how points. And, as we deliver these ca- open the aperture on EW, we’re seeing
future ground EW capabilities will be pabilities, systems we’re now deploy- more and more data, so there is a lot of
incorporated into the battlespace. A lot ing, because of the way technology is effort going into data fusion, machine
of ground capabilities are in the exper- changing, are being used in ways we learning, AI and such. As you expand
imentation stage. If you look at what never imagined.” your sensors, the number of capabil-
the Army is doing with their cross-net- ities, you have to have a way for the
work teams, they are learning how to Multi-use hardware system to narrow all that down, with-
do an air-ground, multi-service, inte- As hardware is becoming ubiquitous, out taking away significant data. And
grated framework,” says BAE Systems’s smaller, and more capable, the Army each user has a different view on what
Ioannisyan. is requiring an open architecture set that should be. We’re seeing a priori-
“I think every component has its of capabilities with EW/cyber warfare ty for it to be tailorable to the level of
own pros and cons,” he says. “The real built-in, enabling the warfighter to use data required by each user across the
question is how does the battlespace the same hardware for different mis- battlespace.”
network leverage the best of those ca- sion-based functions. As the warfight- Rapid innovation in the commercial
pabilities to help the ground maneu- er evolves from the concept of “every world also leads to rapid innovation in
ver units put kinetic fire on their tar- shooter is a sensor” to every shooter EW and other military applications,
gets. Can the system itself decide if a is an EW/cyber warfare node, the need with ground EW and associated appli-
specific target is better jammed from to bring all that new data back to the cations expected to see a lot of inno-
the air or hit by Hellfire from the air commander — from the smallest unit vation on which they can move quick-
or by kinetic effects from the ground?” to higher headquarters — as useful in- ly. Commercial technologies, typically
In the past, EW typically has been formation to make real-time tactical based on industry standards, also make
segmented. The effort by the Army — decisions also increases. it easier to update existing systems and
which is being closely watched by the
other services — to converge EW and COMPANY LIST
cyber warfare is changing that.
“We can’t continue to have stove- Abaco Systems Curtiss-Wright Corp. Mercury Defense Systems
piped systems and we’re seeing re- Huntsville, Ala. Defense Solutions Division Cypress, Calif.
www.abaco.com Ashburn, Va. www.mrcy.com/markets/
quirements for systems to do all those www.curtisswrightds.com electronic-warfare
BAE Systems Adaptive
and more demanding in terms of open
Sensors Group General Dynamics Corp. Northrop Grumman Corp.
architecture,” says Joe Ottaviano, di- Hudson, N.H. Mission Systems segment Mission Systems segment
rector of EW at the Lockheed Mar- www.baesystems.com Fairfax, Va. Baltimore
https://gdmissionsystems.com www.northropgrumman.com
tin Corp. Rotary and Mission Systems Boeing Defense, Space &
Security segment Harris Corp. Electronic Raytheon Space and
segment in Syracuse, N.Y. “Certain- St. Louis Systems segment Airborne Systems
ly there has been a lot of advance- www.boeing.com/company/ Clifton, N.J. El Segundo, Calif.
ment in hand-held, carryable EW sys- about-bds www.harris.com/es www.raytheon.com/
capabilities/ew
tems, offensive and defensive. Those Comtech PST Corp. Leidos
Melville, N.Y. Reston, Va. U.S. Army Cyber Center of
have come a long way over the years www.comtechpst.com www.leidos.com Excellence
as technology has improved. And as Fort Gordon, Ga.
Crane Keltec Lockheed Martin Corp.
https://cybercoe.army.mil/home.
things become smaller and more com- Fort Walton Beach, Fla. Rotary and Mission Systems
html
pact, they’ve gotten lighter.” www.craneae.com segment
Syracuse, N.Y.
“We’re seeing the ability to put more www.lockheedmartin.com
capability into smaller footprints, such

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1902mae10-17.indd 16 2/4/19 3:17 PM


YOUR SOLUTION PROVIDER FOR...
tie all platforms into the battlespace CONNECTIVITY | POWER | CONTROL
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“The overall convergence of assets is
the path forward, where ground is not
a diverse and separate piece, says Cur-
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perspective, you’re trying to use all your
assets together to achieve the goal, so
why is EW any different? Ground has STAY CONNECTED
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“It is critical to understand that EW
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Applications Include:
• Mission Interface Computer
says. “EW is shifting into a fast-paced - Inflerface wflflfl plaflform sensors
technology area. There may be an ad- & flermflnals
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such as medicine, that may have ap- pre- & posfl-flflflflfl
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Avflonflcs/Dflflflflal Dflscrefle I/O, Vfldeo, WflFfl, GPS, and Power Conflrol.
ment procurement.”
• 3 modes (Remofle Access, Proflocol Conversflon, and Sflandalone)
Whatever form it may take, it is clear
• Expandable: (2) Mflnfl-PCIe sflfles and (1) CusflomflzableI/O
ground-based EW will be a critical part Expansflon Module
of future military TTPs and CONOPs,
not only for U.S. and allied forces, but SWaP-C Optimized System
also for peer and near-peer adversar- • Ruflfled Deployable Compacfl Enclosure
ies, some of whom already may have • Hflflfl Compuflflnfl Performance, wflflfl Low Power Consumpflflon
• MIL-STD-810G Sflock, Vflbraflflon, and Immersflon / MIL-STD-461F EMI Bengaluru, Indi
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“We’re seeing EW coming to the
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www.militaryaerospace.com

1902mae10-17.indd 17 DataDev_MAE_1902 1 2/4/19 3:17


1/25/19 4:46PM
PM
TECHNOLOGY F CUS

Rugged backplanes take gigabits per second, but today people


are pushing the edge of the envelope,”

on high-performance says David Pepper, senior product man-


ager at embedded computing specialist
Abaco Systems in Huntsville, Ala. “In

embedded computing just a very few years, 40 Gigabit Eth-


ernet came on the scene, and now 100
Gigabit Ethernet is available. For us to-
Today’s rugged chassis designs offer fast throughput, day it is typical to do 10- and 40-Giga-
bit Ethernet, but we need to be ready
ruggedization, advanced cooling, adherence to emerging industry
for 100-Gigabit tomorrow.”
standards, and options for optical fiber interconnects. These faster speeds among em-
bedded computing boards and boxes
BY John Keller could lead to new im-
plementations of het-
Rugged embedded computing back- erogeneous computing
planes and chassis for military and that blends gener-
aerospace applications are helping al-purpose processors,
lead the aerospace and defense indus- field-programmable
try into a new era of high-speed data gate arrays (FPGAs),
throughput, standard interoperable ar- and general-purpose
chitectures, and thermal management graphics processing
to tame even the most powerful of to- units (GPGPUs) for AI,
day’s server-grade microprocessors. machine learning, vi-
Perhaps at the forefront of these The Aitech rugged 3U VPX C877 single-board computer sion systems, cyber
technology trends are backplane data combines the a 12-core Intel Xeon processor and as much as 1 security, and smart
bandwidths that are expected to yield terabyte of on-board security-protected SATA solid-state drive. data storage.
throughput of 100 gigabits per second “We’re looking at
within the next couple of years, as well VME systems, and is evolving rapidly making everything faster with the
as hybrid electronics cooling technol- to pave the way to future military and switch fabrics, and to move at the rate
ogies that blend conduction cooling, aerospace uses of artificial intelligence of technology itself,” says John Bratton,
convection cooling, and liquid cooling. (AI) machine learning, sensor fusion, product and solutions marketing man-
Traditional copper interconnects are and advanced command and control. ager at Mercury Systems in Andover,
expected to yield their leadership to op- Mass. “The world is moving faster than
tical fiber as data speeds increase, and Data throughput it ever has before; machine autonomy
emerging industry standards should One of the most exciting developments and AI are moving into edge processing
offer an attractive balance of perfor- in embedded computing backplanes and to accommodate more sensors, sensor
mance, cost, and maintainability. chassis is a path towards widespread fusion, and a deluge of sensor informa-
Suffice it to say that today’s back- use of 100 Gigabit Ethernet copper and tion to make intelligent, real-time as-
planes and chassis are not your father’s optical interconnects at the backplane. sessments of the environment.”
embedded computing. Technology has “The big sea-change is people in the Several companies already have
come a long way since the heyday of past were happy to move data at 10 announced embedded computing

18 F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 9 MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS www.militaryaerospace.com

1902mae18-24.indd 18 2/4/19 4:03 PM


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1902mae18-24.indd 191
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9/25/18 3:12 PM
PM
TECHNOLOGY F CUS

products that involve 100-Gigabit Eth- Today the majority of high-perfor- you will see products coming out at
ernet interconnects — among them mance embedded computing (HPEC) 100 gigabits, and that technology could
the Curtiss-Wright Corp. Defense Solu- applications are using interconnects become mainstream in the next five
tions Division in Ashburn, Va. “Push- that run at 10 to 40 gigabits per sec- years,” Straznicky.
ing VPX to higher and higher transmis- ond, “but in the next two or three years Not every embedded computing ap-
sion speeds to get more capability is a plication will need 100-gigabit through-
clear backplane trend,” says Ivan Straz- put, Straznicky cautions. “Mission and
nicky, chief technology officer at Cur- flight computers, for example, real-
tiss-Wright. “We announced a 100-giga- ly don’t need it yet,” he says. Only the
bit VPX product in January 2018.” most demanding applications, like sig-
Enhanced data throughput especial- nal processing for radar, EW, and sig-
ly is crucial for leading-edge aerospace nals intelligence will be the pioneering
and defense applications like radar and applications for 100-Gigabit Ethernet.”
electronic warfare signal processing,
Straznicky says. “We have a clear de- Signal integrity
mand from customers for those appli- Increasing signal throughput in today’s
cations and those speeds. With more high-performance embedded comput-
processing comes memory bandwidth ing systems comes at a price, howev-
and communications among the pro- The VITA 48.4 Chassis from Elma Electronic er. Perhaps chief among these design
cessors, and switching between the offers liquid flow through cooling and has tradeoffs is compromised signal integ-
systems.” four 6U OpenVPX (VITA 65) slots. rity; as speeds increase, the problem
becomes worse.
“Signals get faster all the time,” says
Chris Ciufo, chief technology officer at
STRONGER, FASTER,
General Micro Systems (GMS) in Rancho
COOLER OPENVPX! Cucamonga, Calif. “It’s very difficult to
design these systems, because we have
to talk about signal integrity.” Anything
Dual 191 CFM running in the gigahertz range over cop-
hot-swap fans
per interconnects transmits electronic
noise, for which systems designers must
compensate, Ciufo explains.
Ultra-rugged
OpenVPX rails “Every time there is a discontinuity
in the system — from a connector, ca-
ble, circuit card via — it is like an an-
tenna stub,” Ciufo says. “It affects and
can degrade the signal. You have to
worry about crosstalk and jitter; add
up all those discontinuities, and it is
Heat exchangers and very difficult to design these systems
internal design for optimized that run a really fast speeds.”
OpenVPX cooling
Interconnect companies like TE Con-
nectivity in Harrisburg, Va., are keep-
ing pace with technology by providing
leading-edge connectors to minimize
www.pixustechnologies.com noise, crosstalk, and jitter in high-per-
formance embedded computing. “The

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TECHNOLOGY F CUS

TE connector can run at 40 GHz, and a lot of these circuit cards that are get- want to put in as many as 12 OpenVPX
they are talking about running it up to ting hotter and hotter inside an ATR [air cards, and get 800 Watts into an ATR.
100 GHz,” Ciufo says. transport rack standard chassis],” says People are trying to put more and more
The problem, however, isn’t just the Justin Moll, vice president of U.S. market power on cards in less space, and that
responsibility of the interconnect sup- development at rugged embedded chas- also means hotter cards.”
pliers; it’s up to every systems design- sis provider Pixus Technologies in Water- It can be difficult to do this while re-
er to minimize signal integrity issues loo, Ontario. “In the past you might see ducing system size, weight, and power
throughout their systems. “It’s really in- six slots as the average size. Now people consumption (SWaP). “It’s a challenge
cumbent on the designers of all the bits
and pieces of these systems to safeguard
signal integrity issues,” Ciufo says. “With
each jump in speed it gets more difficult.
They also have to worry about the pow-
er supply signals; it isn’t easy. With each
new generation of technology, the dial
is turned up just a little bit more, so we
have to keep upping our game.”

Thermal management
and ruggedization
It’s a rule of thumb in embedded com-
puting that higher performance and
faster speeds mean increased waste
heat. Fortunately, systems designers
today have a wide and growing set
of open-systems standards to choose
from to help keep their systems cool
and operating at peak efficiency.
“On the chassis we are seeing two
effects: one, a lot of people want to put

The Pixus ATR with heat exchange is designed


for 3U OpenVPX boards, and can cool as much
as 800 Watts. The inner chamber is sealed,
with an outer shell to pull supplemental
cooling air over the enclosure fins.
www.militaryaerospace.com

1902mae18-24.indd 21 ECS_MAE_1901 1 2/4/19 3:17


12/13/18 3:37 PM
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TECHNOLOGY F CUS

for us chassis guys to prevent all the cards sealed from outside contami- choice anytime soon. Standard archi-
enclosures from getting bigger and big- nants, while capitalizing on the strong tectures are allowing hybrid approach-
ger because of the cooling they need,” cooling properties of liquid to cool em- es that can mix and match copper RF
Moll says. bedded electronics that is generating signals and optical signals over fiber on
Pixus is designing rugged OpenVPX even 800 or 900 Watts per slot. the same OpenVPX backplane.
embedded computing chassis with heat Curtiss-Wright also is offering hy- Optical fiber interconnects offer ob-
exchangers on the outside to cool by brid thermal management solutions vious advantages over copper — faster
pulling outside air across the outside that blend air flow through and liquid speeds, lower system noise, better sig-
edges. “The outer shell pulls air from flow through technologies to cool em- nal integrity, and enhanced security.
the outside for extra cooling, while in- bedded computing systems with wide- Still, the transition can be difficult be-
side it is sealed and protected from the ly ranging waste heat. “We have a hy- cause of the expense, new technologies
environment,” Moll says. brid approach that allows the designer necessary, and the difficulty of keep-
This kind of cooling approach that in- to use conduction-cooled modules to ing fiber interconnects clean enough
volves blown air can be a necessity, and optimize,” Straznicky says. for maximum signal throughput. “Fi-
not a luxury, in today’s powerful embed- ber weighs less than copper, you can’t
ded computing designs. “People are more eavesdrop on it, and it can go long dis-
willing to use some of the air-cooled sys- tances,” points out Mercury’s Bratton.
tems, and in rugged rack-mount appli- “It also requires precision alignment,
cations there are a lot more of those,” and cleanliness is an issue.”
Moll says. “The overall trend is keeping FiberQA in Old Lyme, Conn., offers
the air-cooled approach because they AVIT-DT technology that uses a system
are getting beyond the limits of what of robotics and automated software to
traditional conduction cooling can do.” inspect and clean dozens of optical fi-
Curtiss-Wright’s Straznicky says ber ferrules in a matter of minutes, rath-
systems designers are making broad- er than hours or days. While the AVIT-
er use of industry standards like VITA DT is big enough to take polishing plates,
The Pentek plenum has an exposed wall
48.8 air-flow-through and VITA 48.4 liq- that helps control the cooling airflow in several military-standard circular con-
uid-flow-through to help tackle heat in Pentek high-performance data recorders. nectors, or dozens of MPO ferrules, it is
high-performance systems. compact enough to fit on a workstation.
VITA 48.8 permits air inlets at both Copper vs. optical fiber It can help inspect individual ferrules or
card edges, as well as on the top circuit interconnects different sized military and aerospace
card edge opposite the VPX connectors. Most embedded computing industry ex- shell connectors at the same time.
It also can promote use of polymer or perts are waiting for as long as they can Optical-to-electronic-conversion,
composite materials to reduce chassis before making the transition from cop- and electronic-to-optical-conversion,
size and weight. per to optical fiber interconnects — al- also is an issue for today’s embedded
VITA 48.8 seeks to improve the ef- though few deny that an eventual move computing designs. “Optical-to-elec-
ficiency of the thermal path to cool to optical fiber is a virtual certainty. tronic and electronic-to-optical con-
high-performance processors, FPGAs, Many industry old timers are verters are crucial enabling technolo-
general-purpose graphics processing amazed that copper interconnects to- gies,” says Curtiss-Wright’s Straznicky.
units (GPGPUs), and other hot compo- day are capable of speeds as fast as 100 “In rugged transceivers, I don’t know if
nents. Specifications for ANSI/VITA 48.8 gigabits per second, whereas only a few there are any on the market now, but
use gasketing to prevent particulate years ago few thought that copper could once there is a clear need, then com-
contamination from the moving air. carry signals much faster than 1 giga- panies will go ahead and innovate.”
When designers need even more bit per second. Companies to watch on future Opti-
cooling capacity, they can turn to Fortunately, however, industry stan- cal-to-electronic-conversion, and elec-
VITA 48.3 liquid flow by and 48.4 liq- dards are evolving such that designers tronic-to-optical-conversion chips in-
uid flow through technology to keep probably won’t be forced into making a clude Finisar Corp. in Sunnyvale, Calif.;

22 F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 9 MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS www.militaryaerospace.com

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TECHNOLOGY F CUS

Reflex Photonics in Kirkland, Quebec; have to, but there will be an awful lot
and Ultra Communications Inc. in Vis- of copper for RF and power. There al-
ta, Calif. ways will be a mix.”
Optical fiber offers more advantag-
es than just signal throughput; it also Emerging industry standards
helps data storage systems keep up with One of today’s most talked-about
today’s fast microprocessors. Non-Vola- The Apex rugged computer server for emerging industry standards influenc-
tile Memory Express (NVMe) solid-state military and aerospace applications from ing embedded computing backplanes
drives can communicate with the CPUs General Micro Systems is designed to evolve and chassis is the Sensor Open Sys-
and upgrade as system needs change over
at PCI Express Gen3 speeds, which al- tems Architecture (SOSA) standard,
several years.
leviates the need for drive controllers administered by The Open Group in
that slow data throughput and add un- Despite its advantages, many com- San Francisco.
necessary controller latency. panies still are reluctant to move to op- It revolves around OpenVPX, and
NVMe over fiber is a trend,” says tical fiber. “No one will do optical un- focuses on single-board computers
GMS’s Ciufo. “To scale-up to more stor- til they have to,” says Abaco’s Pepper. and how to integrate them into sen-
age, we are looking for ways to connect “But when you get beyond 100-gigabit sor platforms. Embedded computing
more boxes with fiber with new proto- interconnects, we’ll have to get serious experts also say SOSA functionally is
cols. Fiber is very light weight, immune about these optical standards coming boiling-down cumbersome OpenVPX
to EMI [electromagnetic interference], is on.” Echoes Michael Munroe, backplane standards into a useful subset for aero-
inherently not tapable, and gives you tre- product specialist at Elma Electron- space and defense applications. SOSA’s
mendous speeds with low SWaP.” ic, “People will go to fiber when the potential to streamline OpenVPX could

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1902mae18-24.indd 123
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TECHNOLOGY F CUS

bolster interoperability of third-par- Kontron America Inc. in San Di- Distributed architectures
ty modules in military and aerospace ego has introduced the VX305C-40G A growing number of military embed-
systems, and help save costs and en- 3U OpenVPX single-board computer ded computing applications are dis-
hance competition. that uses an open-systems architec- pensing entirely with the traditional
SOSA falls under an umbrella of ture that aligns with SOSA. The em- circuit-card-and-backplane architec-
emerging standards called Modular bedded computer for battlefield serv- ture in favor of distributing networked
Open Systems Approach (MOSA). In er-class computing and digital signal stand-alone computer boxes through-
addition to SOSA includes Future Air- processing (DSP uses a defined Open- out their systems.
borne Capability Environment (FACE); VPX single-board computer profile that “There is a migration in the cus-
Vehicular Integration for C4ISR/EW In- marries a 40 Gigabit Ethernet port and tomer base toward small-form-fac-
teroperability (VICTORY); and Open user I/O to the 12-core version of the tor computer systems,” says Doug
Mission Systems/Universal Command Intel Xeon D processor. Patterson, vice president of glob-
and Control Interface (OMS/UCI). Close behind Kontron in introducing al marketing at Aitech Defense Sys-
Military involvement in MOSA and SOSA products is Pentek Inc. in Upper tems Inc. in Chatsworth, Calif. “They
SOSA standards is helping keep Open- Saddle River, N.J., with the model 71813 want distributed intelligence and a
VPX attractive to the military. Although SOSA-aligned LVDS XMC module with way to communicate that back to
SOSA is not yet a final standard, it even- optical I/O. It is based on the Xilinx Kin- the main mission computer, which is
tually may help forge consensus among tex Ultrascale field-programmable gate backplane-and-chassis-based.
suppliers and users. array (FPGA) and features 28 pairs of Distributed systems move signal
“SOSA is a big deal,” says Mercury’s LVDS digital I/O to align with the emerg- processing and data conversion as
Bratton. “It’s really got traction, and we ing SOSA standard. The model 71813 also closely to sensors and antennas as pos-
are seeing a lot of technology re-use, implements an optional front panel op- sible, and perform as much processing
upgradeability, removing vendor-lock, tical interface supporting four 12-giga- and data-reduction as possible. Then
and scalability.” bit-per-second lanes to the FPGA. it flows back to a centralized comput-
er system. “It’s taking a lot of intelli-
COMPANY LIST gence and pushing that out to the sen-
sor,” Patterson says. “Instead of flowing
Abaco Systems Inc. Extreme Engineering Pixus Technologies the data through a harness, it goes out
Huntsville, Ala. Solutions (X-ES) Waterloo, Ontario to the edge to the sensors.”
www.abaco.com Verona, Wis. www.pixustechnologies.com
Driving the move to distributed ar-
www.xes-inc.com
Aitech Defense Systems Inc. Reflex Photonics chitectures are SWaP and price, Pat-
Chatsworth, Calif. FiberQA Kirkland, Quebec
www.rugged.com Old Lyme, Conn. https://reflexphotonics.com terson says. “It’s moving smaller com-
https://www.fiberqa.com pute clusters out closer to the sensors,
Atrenne Integrated Systel Inc.
Solutions Inc. Finisar Corp. Sugar Land, Texas and passing that data along to the main
Littleton, Mass. Sunnyvale, Calif. www.systelusa.com
mission processors.”
www.atrenne.com www.finisar.com
TE Connectivity Will distributed architectures re-
Crystal Group Inc. General Micro Systems Harrisburg, Va.
Hiawatha, Iowa (GMS) Inc. www.te.com/usa-en/home.html place traditional bus-and-board box-
www.crystalrugged.com Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. es? Probably not in the foreseeable fu-
Ultra Communications Inc.
www.gms4sbc.com
Curtiss-Wright Defense Vista, Calif. ture, Patterson says. “All that data has
Solutions Kontron America Inc. www.ultracomm-inc.com
to go somewhere,” he says. “Payloads
Ashburn, Va. San Diego
VadaTech Inc. typically form a ring of boxes around
www.curtisswrightds.com www.kontron.com
Henderson, Nev.
Elma Electronic Inc. Mercury Systems Inc. www.vadatech.com the vehicle, which are booster control-
Fremont, Calif. Andover, Mass. lers, GPS, and navigation systems. All
ZMicro
www.elma.com www.mrcy.com
San Diego that data has to reside in a box of some
Pentek Inc. https://zmicro.com
form. It may change in the future, but
Upper Saddle River, N.J.
www.pentek.com for now you will have a main mission
computer.” 

24 F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 9 MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS www.militaryaerospace.com

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RF&
m i crowave
Northrop Grumman to operate Thales to provide RF sensors
for advanced Rafale F4
BACN voice and data gateway multirole jet fighter
France’s defense ministry has awarded
for airborne communications Thales a contract to develop onboard RF
and electro-optical sensors and commu-
BY John Keller
won a $44.4 million contract for logis- nication systems for Rafale F-4 multirole
HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. — Military tics support on four E-11A aircraft, as jet fighter aircraft. France’s government
communications experts at Northrop well as subsystems and support equip- has signed a $2.3 billion contract for 28
Grumman Corp. will continue operat- ment in support of military operations updated Rafale F4 fighter jets from French-
ing and maintaining for a major bat- in Afghanistan. headquartered Dassault Aviation. The F4
tlefield airborne communications sys- The BACN uses the Airborne Exec- standard is to improve the Rafale avion-
tem involving manned and unmanned utive Processor (AEP) to enable a per- ics and sensors in line with technological
aircraft under terms of a $149.6 million sistent voice and data gateway in the progress and operating experience. Thales
contract announced Tuesday. sky that receives, bridges, and distrib- will prepare for the introduction of the
Officials of the U.S. Air Force Life utes communications among all partic- CONTACT radio; secure, intelligent commu-
Cycle Management Center at Hanscom ipants in a battle. nications server technology; and a Syracuse
IV satellite communications capability. To
ensure high survivability, new threat detec-
tion and jamming capabilities will be devel-
oped for the aircraft’s SPECTRA electronic
warfare system. Further improvements to
the air-to-ground mode of the RBE2 active
electronic scanning array (AESA) radar are
also planned. In addition, the TALIOS elec-
tro-optical sensor pod will incorporate arti-
ficial intelligence to analyse tactical data
almost instantaneously in flight and extract
and identify targets. The enhancements will
The Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) goes aboard the RQ-4 Global Hawk
enable aircrews to locate, identify, classify,
large unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), shown above, and on the E-11A modified Bombardier
Global Express business jet. and engage threats.

Air Force Base, Mass., are asking the Last fall the Northrop Grumman Designing naval surface
Northrop Grumman Corp. Aerospace Corp. Mission Systems segment in Mid- warships for modern ASW
Systems segment in San Diego to pro- dle River, Md., won an $80.2 million or- with networked sensors
vide option year one for Battlefield Air- der for military Global Positioning Sys- The Australian government is weighing up
borne Communications Node (BACN) tem (GPS) capability for BACN nodes its options when it comes to the anti-subma-
payload operations and sustainment. aboard the E-11A jet, as well as to en- rine warfare (ASW) capability requirements
The BACN is an electronic payload hance the system’s positioning, navi- for the forthcoming decision on Project SEA
aboard the E-11A and Air Force RQ-4 gation, and timing (PNT). 5000—the multi-billion-dollar future frigate
Global Hawk large unmanned aerial ve- The BACN payload aboard the E-11A project. The proliferation of submarines in the
hicle (UAV). The E-11A is based on the and Global Hawk helps enable diverse Indo-Pacific certainly warrants close atten-
Bombardier Global Express business jet. battlefield weapon systems to commu- tion being paid to this decision. For starters,
The Northrop Grumman Technology nicate with each other during in-the- we need a clear understanding [PAGE 27]
Services segment in Herndon, Va., also ater operations where mountainous

www.militaryaerospace.com MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 9 25

1902mae25-27.indd 25 2/4/19 3:17 PM


RF&
m i crowave

terrain, large buildings, or other obstructions inhibit line-


of-sight communications.
Army looking for COTS
Military leaders found that such obstructions could lim- dumb terminals to upgrade
it operating units to see only a limited set of the complete
picture of the battlefield. The BACN command and control obsolescent rugged displays
network is designed to provide situational awareness from
small ground units in contact up to the highest command
in Stryker vetronics
levels, Northrop Grumman officials say. BY John Keller
BACN’s AEP provides translator and gateway interfaces
among all supported communications systems, and forwards WARREN, Mich. — U.S. Army vetronics experts are looking for
intelligence information to the Global Information Grid. By rugged dumb terminals — video displays without internal
controlling the AEP via a ground station, BACN is radio- processors — to replace obsolescent displays in the Army’s
and platform-agnostic, Northrop Grumman officials say. fleet of Stryker Double V-Hull A1 (DVH A1) armored com-
On these deals Northrop Grumman will do the work in bat vehicles.
San Diego; Middle River, Md.; Kandahar, Afghanistan; and Officials of the Army Contracting Command in Warren,
at several international sites, and should be finished by Mich., have issued a request for information (W56HZV-19-Ve-
January 2020.  hicle-Electronics-and-Architecture-Request-for-Information)
to find commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) solutions for DVH
For more information contact Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems online
at www.northropgrumman.com, or the U.S. Air Force Life Cycle Management
Center at www.wpafb.af.mil/aflcmc

UL1203 Certified
EPOXY for
Explosion-Proof &
Dust-Ignition-Proof
Electrical Equipment
The Army is looking for rugged displays without processors to
EP41S-6 Two Part Epoxy replace obsolescent displays in the Stryker armored combat vehicle.

A1 in-vehicle network-2 (IVN-2) mission display.


• Dielectric strength, 75°F
The Army Contracting Command is issuing this RFI on
440 volts/mil
behalf of the Vehicle Electronics and Architecture office of
• Glass transition temperature the Army Tank and Automotive Research, Development,
145-150°C and Engineering Center (TARDEC) in Warren, Mich.
• Service temperature range Army vetronics designers are looking for stand-alone
-80°F to +500°F dumb displays to replace the Stryker DVH A1 video display
terminal (VDT) and its replacement video display electron-
ic terminal (VDET), which rapidly are approaching obsoles-
cence, Army officials say.
The new display’s USB touchscreen and USB bezel
154 Hobart Street, Hackensack, NJ 07601 USA
+1.201.343.8983 ∙ main masterbond.com
may be provided to the keyboard, video, mouse (KVM)
through one interface, and the displays should be able to
www.masterbond.com
accommodate secure classification separation. The new

26  
F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 9   MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICSwww.militaryaerospace.com

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RF&
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display’s performance should be equal display without an internal processor [FROM PAGE 25] that ASW is about much
to or better than the current VDET in a production quantity of 300 units more than just what can be expected from
specification. per year; and to understand risk areas only one of many surface warships, no mat-
The rugged displays must have ac- that could inhibit product development. ter how sophisticated the fit-out. But who
tive touchscreen areas of at least 10 The Army only wants display understands this esoteric field? The one-on-
inches. The complete display and bezel hardware that meets the Stryker one hunter–killer scenario we sometimes
must not be larger than 12.25 by 11 by Mission Display (SMD) performance think of from World War II or early in the
4.25 inches, and weigh no more than specification, which is available for Cold War is no longer what can be expected.
24 pounds. Its bezel buttons must use download as a Microsoft Word doc- Now, submarines are even harder to detect
the USB human interface device (HID) ument at https://www.f bo.gov/utils/ and, as a result, the World War II concept of
keyboard protocol, and use either the view?id=cb6f4457b2ddb812eafe28d- a single ship hunting a submarine is of limited
USB HID touchscreen; USB HID touch- ae2bee0ea. utility. With only on-board sensors available
pad; or USB HID mouse protocol. Companies interested were asked to to conduct detection work, the submarine
If companies would like to suggest email responses to the Army’s Jenelle would always have an advantage. Building
a smart display, its processor must be Vickberg at Jenelle.L.Vickberg.civ@mail. on evolved capabilities, ASW today involves
physically removable from the unit at mil no later than 18 Feb. 2019. Email coordinating a suite of networked sensors
its point of manufacture to help the questions or concerns to Vickberg at that involve sonar and electromagnetic sen-
Army avoid removing the processor [email protected].  sors aloft, on the surface, and underwater
later on. to detect, track, deter, and potentially attack
Army officials want to know the More information is online at https://www.fbo.gov/ hostile submarines. 
availability and cost of providing a notices/ab233684b4f2e814712e1a15cf738afb.

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www.militaryaerospace.com MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS  F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 9   27

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2:14 PM 1 1/18/19 2:11 PM

1902mae25-27.indd 27 2/4/19 3:17 PM


UN M A N N ED
vehicles
DARPA eyes tiny insects as models for
artificial intelligence (AI) computing
BY John Keller
ARLINGTON, Va. — U.S. military research- way nature computes, yet not the way
ers are drawing on the evolution of very nature functions.
small flying insects to improve artificial For the Micro-BRAIN project, DAR-
What’s the next wave of artificial intelligence
intelligence (AI) computing with reduced PA is asking for new ways of under-
technology for unmanned aerial vehicles?
training times, improved computational standing integrated sensory and ner- Perhaps the insect world has the answer.
efficiency, and low power consumption. vous systems in miniature insects and
Officials of the U.S. Defense Ad- developing prototype computational
vanced Research Projects Agency (DAR- models that could map onto computer that could be the first steps towards
PA) in Arlington, Va., have issued a so- hardware to emulate their functions. consciousness. This could imply some
licitation (DARPA-PA-18-02-03) for the Nature has forced on these small in- ability to infer, generalize, and abstract.
for the Microscale Biomimetic Robust sects drastic miniaturization and ener- The six-month first phase of the
Artificial Intelligence Networks (Mi- gy efficiency, some having only a few DARPA Micro-BRAIN program will map
cro-BRAIN) project. hundred neurons in a compact form input/output channels of a model in-
DARPA scientists seek to develop factor, while maintaining basic func- sect’s central intelligence system to
new computational frameworks and tionality, researchers explain. understand physical interactions in-
strategies by drawing from the impres- Tiny bugs, moreover, may be able volved in signaling. The yearlong sec-
sive computational capabilities of very to display increased subjectivity of ex- ond phase will involve new AI compu-
small flying insects, which nature has perience, which extends simple look- tational hardware.
forced to reduce their scale, size, and up table responses potentially to AI- Proposers should understand not
energy consumption without any loss based problem solving. This research only computer science, signal process-
of performance. could lead to new capabilities in infer- ing, and computing architectures, but
The past decade has seen explosive ence, prediction, generalization, and also the physiology of insects and their
growth in development of AI systems, abstraction of problems. neural-sensory systems. Teams need
DARPA researchers explain. Neverthe- Ultimately, the goal is to understand to be able to identify the chemical and
less, the amount of computation nec- the computational principles, architec- electromagnetic interactions involved
essary to train the largest AI systems tures, and neuronal details of small in signaling in miniaturized distribut-
has been increasing ten-fold each year bio-systems driven by extreme SWaP ed neural systems.
as AI has taken on progressively more needs in nature. Doing could help iden- Companies and organizations in-
complex problems. tify new computing paradigms that terested were asked to submit 8-page
Experts predict, moreover, that will enable improved AI with consider- proposals by 4 Feb. 2019 to the DAR-
tradeoffs between computational ca- ably reduced training times and pow- PA BAA Website at https://baa.darpa.
pability, resources, and size, weight, er consumption. mil. The program may begin as ear-
and power consumption (SWaP) is be- Researchers may be able to draw on ly as 3 April. 2019. Email questions or
coming increasingly critical. several factors related to miniaturized concerns the DARPA Micro-BRAIN pro-
Although computer research in this insects, such as sensing, memory, pro- gram manager, Michael Fiddy, at Micro-
area is going in the right direction, cessing, and actuations integrated into [email protected]. 
much more needs to be done, DARPA a system that can be smaller than a few
researchers say. Today’s neuromorphic human neurons. More information is online at https://www.fbo.
and neural architectures rely on digital Evidence suggests that even small gov/spg/ODA/DARPA/CMO/DARPA-PA-18-02-03/
computing that attempt to mimic the insects have subjective experiences listing.html.

28 F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 9 MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS www.militaryaerospace.com

1902mae28.indd 28 2/4/19 3:19 PM


O
ELECTRO

tc
watch
OPTICS

Air Force moves forward on increasing Pentagon to study anti-missile


laser weapons in space
power of laser weapons for tactical aircraft The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD)
will study the possibility of space weap-
BY John Keller Laser Advancements for Next Genera- ons — perhaps particle beams, ray guns,
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. — U.S. Air Force tion Compact Environments (LANCE). space laser weapons, or orbiting missiles
aerial warfare experts are launching a Air Force researchers say they will — that could intercept enemy missiles com-
new effort to increase the power and use CHELSEA data to help design and ing off the launch pad. The Pentagon will
efficiency of laser weapons to make build by 2024 a Technology Readiness forgo actually developing them, for now.
them suitable for next-generation tac- Level-5 laser prototype of a compact, It’s part of the Trump administration’s effort
tical aircraft. ruggedized, high-energy laser subsys- to expand the scope of what we’re pos-
tem suitable for tactical tured to defend against. Much has changed
aircraft able to fly at near since the Pentagon’s last attempt to publicly
the speed of sound. frame the state of missile defense and the
Now the CHELSEA way forward: 2010’s Ballistic Missile Defense
project seeks to bring Review. The review will also discuss pros-
SHiELD and LANCE to pects for using SM3 IIA missiles, of the sort
a whole new level. It on Arleigh Burke-class Aegis destroyers, as
seeks to scale laser pow- ICBM interceptors, with testing to occur in
er by 2024 as a possible 2020. New weapons would be partially cued
drop-in replacement for by a planned constellation of sensor satel-
the SHiELD LANCE laser lites in low Earth orbit that will keep tabs
subsystem, or as part of a on Russian, North Korean, or Chinese mobile
new prototype laser sys- missiles — part of the “space-based sensor
Air Force researchers are moving closer to developing tem for airborne applica- layer” that is to be in place by 2023.
enabling technologies for laser weapons aboard jet fighters tions. CHELSEA data also
and other combat aircraft. may help guide govern-
Officials of the Air Force Research ment technology investment decisions Air Force schedules tests of
Laboratory Directed Energy Director- beyond 2024. laser- and microwave-based
ate at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., is- Companies interested should send directed-energy weapons
sued a broad agency announcement in responses by post or courier no later The U.S. Air Force officials say they plan
January (FA9451-19-S-0001) for the Com- than 26 Feb. 2019 to AFRL Det 8/RVK- future experiments involving laser- and
pact High Energy Laser Subsystem Engi- DL, ATTN: Ms. Kim Armstrong, 3550 microwave-based directed-energy weapons
neering Assessment (CHELSEA) project. Aberdeen Avenue, Kirtland AFB, NM after recent successes in testing sessions.
CHELSEA seeks to identify the most 87117-5773. Future experiments in microwaves and lasers
promising technologies for significant For technical questions or concerns in the Directed Energy Experimentation
increases in power over previous efforts contact Kevin Hewlett by email at kev- Campaign are planned at the White Sands
to develop an airborne laser weapon for [email protected], or by phone at Missile Range in New Mexico, the Air Force
tactical aircraft. 505-853-2684. For contracting questions said in a statement. The tests essentially use
Specifically, CHELSEA seeks to iden- or concerns contact Kim Armstrong by microwaves or lasers to bring down aerial
tify technologies that offer significant email at [email protected].  targets. The experiments offer better under-
increases in power of prototypes devel- standing of the capabilities of off-the-shelf
oped in the Air Force Self-protect High More information is online at https://www.fbo.gov/ high-power microwaves and high-energy
Energy Laser Demonstrator (SHiELD) spg/USAF/AFMC/AFRLPLDED/FA9451-19-S-0001/ lasers, Air Force officials say. 
project and its laser subsystem called listing.html.

www.militaryaerospace.com MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 9 29

1902mae29.indd 29 2/4/19 3:19 PM


PRODUCT
applic at ions
RUGGED COMPUTERS

Navy chooses water-cooled shipboard computers


from GTS for SEWIP and self-defense systems
Shipboard electronics designers at Global that supplies common infrastructure for pro-
Technical Systems (GTS) in Virginia Beach, cessing and network fabric. Plug-in compo-
Va., will provide the U.S. Navy with addi- nents are accessible, hot-swappable, and AVIONICS

tional rugged air- and water-cooled open-ar- battle-ready protected by the GTS Advanced Air Force chooses cockpit
chitecture shipboard computers under terms COTS Enclosure (ACE). management unit from Avalex for
of an $8.5 million order. The CPS consists of a rugged enclosure F-16 jet fighter avionics upgrade
Officials of the Naval Sea Systems Com- and three subsystems: the processing sub- U.S. Air Force jet fighter avionics experts needed
mand in Washington are asking GTS to build system, the storage and extraction subsys- a cockpit management unit as part of the F-16
15 Common Processing System (CPS) techni- tem, and the I/O subsystem. communications suite modernization program.
The storage and extraction subsystem They found their solution from Avalex Technol-
provides data storage for CPS operating ogies in Gulf Breeze, Fla.
system (OS) image storage, program stor- Representatives of Avalex Technologies have
age, data extraction, and database manage- announced that the Air Force has awarded the
ment. The I/O subsystem, meanwhile, inter- company a contract to provide the new-gener-
faces the processing and storage hardware ation ACM9454V cockpit management unit as
to various external elements. part of the F-16 cockpit avionics upgrade.
Oracle provides for the Common Pro- The Avalex ACM9454V is part of the Air
cessing System open-standard middleware, Force Mobile User Objective System (MUOS)
designated SAFfire, for the CPS to support program, which will deliver a tenfold increase in
cal instruction-12 hybrid (TI-12H) water-cooled high-availability management of mission-crit- the real-time, global digital SATCOM throughput
computers for the Navy Surface Electronic ical combat system. SAF stands for Stan- capabilities for all blocks of F-16 jet fighter avi-
Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP) and dards Availability Forum, an industry con- onics, Avalex officials say.
two CPS TI-12H air-cooled computers for ship sortium of companies that develop open MUOS is a is a UHF narrowband military
self-defense systems. The CPS is a rugged ship- standards-based products. The new-gener- satellite communications (SATCOM) system that
board computer processing system based on ation Open-SAFfire middleware uses open- provides increased communications capabilities
an open-architecture design. source technology based on SAF standards. to newer, smaller terminals while still supporting
The CPS provides a common comput- The overall CPS is designed with a interoperability with legacy terminals. MUOS is
ing infrastructure for ship combat systems, shock-isolating enclosure that protects designed to support users who require greater
including processing and memory, data stor- unhardened COTS components from the mobility, higher bit rates, and improved opera-
age and extraction, and I/O interfaces for intense shock and vibration that can occur tional availability.
shipboard combat systems. The GTS team on Navy surface ships. “Once implemented, the number of avail-
building the open-architecture CPS consists On this order GTS will do the work in Vir- able SATCOM channels will increase by 10-fold,
of Northrop Grumman, DRS Technologies, ginia Beach, Va., and should be finished by giving our pilots much greater connectivity in
IBM, and Oracle Corp. this October. For more information contact tomorrow’s battlespace,” says Tony Hatten, vice
GTS engineers build the CPS using com- Global Technical Systems online at http:// president of business development at Avalex.
mercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware and gts.us.com, or Naval Sea Systems Com- Hatten explained that along with being a key
software such as BladeCenter technology mand at www.navsea.navy.mil. part of the F-16 MUOS upgrade, the ACM9454V
offers other key advantages including acting as
30  
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1902mae30-32.indd 30 2/4/19 3:17 PM


a single-point controller for any type of radio information in real time with surface warships. For more information contact L-3 Commu-
system, which eliminates the need for pilots to They found their solution from L-3 Communica- nications-West online at www2.l3t.com/csw, or
receive training on multiple voice and data com- tions-West in Salt Lake City. Naval Air Systems Command at www.navair.
munications systems. Officials of the Naval Air Systems Com- navy.mil.
“Another advantage of the Avalex Technolo- mand at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md.,
gies cockpit management unit is that it is a com- announced a $12.6 million order to L-3 to build
mercial off the shelf (COTS) solution,” Hatten says. and support the common datalink Hawklink AN/ MISSION COMPUTERS
“That means there is no added development cost SRQ-4 systems for the MH-60R helicopter. Tactical Air Support chooses
or development cycle time required for the imple- The L-3 rugged AN/SRQ-4 Hawklink ship- mission computers from Curtiss-
mentation program. board terminal is aboard Navy Arleigh Burke- Wright for F-5E/F jet fighters
The Avalex ACM9454V cockpit management class destroyers and Ticonderoga-class cruisers, Military avionics experts at Tactical Air Support
unit is a drop-in replacement for current ARC- and provides command and control, sensor data Inc. (TacAir) in Reno, Nev., needed cockpit-ac-
210 full-size cockpit controllers; is software-up- transfer, datalink operation, and built-in test, L-3 cessible rugged data recorders and mission com-
gradable for control of MUOS digital network- officials say. puters to upgrade the company’s fleet of F-5 E/F
ing radios; offers a full-color sunlight-readable It enables surface ships and the MH-60R Tiger II supersonic jet fighters. They found their
NVIS-A compatible display; offers a common helicopter to share information from radar, solution from the Curtiss-Wright Corp. Defense
radio user interface with standby and active video, network, and acoustic data interfaces, Solutions division in Ashburn, Va.
tuning; and provides an interface to 10 com- and enables naval personnel to exploit aircraft
mon ARC-210 and other military radios, as well sensor data in real time to extend situational
as IFF transponders, TACAN, and SAR direction awareness over the horizon. It has a range of
finders, company officials say. about 100 nautical miles.
The Avalex ACM9454 cockpit management The Ku-band communications system runs
unit measures 5.75 by 4.88 inches; weighs 2.4 on an open-systems architecture with touch-
pounds, has a display area of 5 inches. It operates screen interfaces. Its 43-inch directional antenna
in temperatures from -40 to 55 degrees Celsius, offers auto-switching between open-loop point-
has a 28-volt DC input, offers 640-by-640-pixel ing and closed-loop tracking, depending on the
resolution, has two Ethernet ports, and one CAN range between the helicopter and the ship.
bus port. For more information contact Avalex The terminal is interoperable with the AN/ TacAir awarded a contract worth more than
Technologies online at https://avalex.com. SQQ-89 warship undersea warfare combat $1 million to Curtiss-Wright to provide a commer-
system and shipboard navigation sensors. It cial off-the-shelf (COTS) Parvus DuraCOR 8042
is software-configurable with Common Data processor and Data Transport System three-slot
AIRBORNE NETWORKING Link (CDL) waveforms, and is compatible with (DTS3) network attached storage (NAS) file server
Navy chooses sensor datalink SAU7000 digital messaging interfaces. for Tactical Air Support F-5E/F jet fighters.
from L-3 Communications-West In addition to the MH-60R helicopter, TacAir owns and operates a fleet of 26
for helicopters and warships the system also can work with the Fire Scout Northrop Grumman F-5 fighter aircraft and mil-
U.S. Navy shipboard communications experts unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the P-8 Posei- itary avionics, largely consisting of an improved,
needed a digital datalink to enable the MH-60R don reconnaissance aircraft, and the P-3 Orion lower flight-time version of the current adversary
multi-mission naval helicopter to share its sensor maritime patrol aircraft. platform of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps.
On this order L-3 will do the work in Salt TacAir has operated F-5 aircraft since 2013.
Lake City; Atlanta; Mountain View, El Cajon, The F-5 is operational with 19 international air
Sunnyvale, Oxnard, and Salinas, Calif.; Exeter forces. The company is upgrading its F-5 fleet
and Dover, N.H.; Derby, Kan.; Boise, Idaho; into advanced tactical aircraft with sensor and
York Haven, Pa.; Bohemia, N.Y.; Littleton and systems capabilities on-par with current U.S.
Stow, Mass.; Providence, R.I.; Cedar Park and military fourth-generation fighter aircraft,
Fort Worth, Texas; Minnetonka, Minn.; Phoenix; TacAir officials say.
Skokie, Ill.; and Toronto, and should be finished Since its inception in 2005, TacAir has pro-
by December 2020. vided government and the aviation industry with
www.militaryaerospace.com MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS  F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 9   31

1902mae30-32.indd 31 2/4/19 3:17 PM


PRODUCT
applic at ions

consulting and training services modeled after a NETWORKED RADIO “The aircraft’s small operational footprint
weapons school with weapons school instruc- Mobile ad-hoc networking radio and extremely large payload capacity enables
tors, graduates, adversaries, and test pilots. from Persistent Systems chosen it to carry the most advanced sensor systems
The company’s F-5s are upgraded with for Resolute Eagle UAV available and can be operated just about any-
head-up display (HUD) and hands-on-throt- Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) experts at PAE where,” says Herb Rubens, Persistent Systems
tle-and-stick (HOTAS) systems, open-architec- ISR in Sterling, Va., needed mobile ad-hoc net- chief executive officer.
ture mission computers, and tailored opera- working (MANET) capability for the
tional flight programs that enable integration company’s Resolute Eagle UAV. They
of advanced radar and radar warning receivers, found their solution from Persistent
infrared search-and-track, electronic attack sys- Systems LLC in New York City.
tems, datalinks, and high off-boresight simu- Persistent Systems will provide
lated weapons. the company’s MPU5 Wave Relay
The Curtiss-Wright DTS3 file server supports networking radio for Resolute Eagle
FIPS 140-2 hardware encrypted solid-state data communications and navigation.
storage that communicates via Ethernet to a The MPU5 rugged digital radio
modified version of Curtiss-Wright’s DuraCOR has an onboard Android operating
80-42 modular mission computer. system, and the Wave Relay MANET,
The DTS3 NAS file server is for aircraft, as integrated GPS, native video encoding and decod- The UAV offers landing and recovery without
well as for mobile vehicles and field ground ing, and push-to-talk audio. It helps form secure a runway and offers a vertical takeoff and landing
stations. The rugged unit integrates into net- networks, unites critical data sources in real time, (VTOL) option for takeoff and landing for rough
work-centric systems to provide a network file and handles data, video, voice. terrain and maritime operations. The aircraft is 9.5
server. The system hosts three removable mem- The system can run live voice-over-inter- feet long, with an 18.2-foot wing span.
ory cartridges — each of which supports as net-protocols, video, and other high-demand It can operate unrefueled for 18 hours,
much as two terabytes of stored data. Users applications, and uses existing infrastructure cruises at 50 knots at altitudes to 17,000 feet.
can remove the unit from one DTS3 and install to augment the capacity of a wireless network. It has an empty weight of 120 pounds, and can
it into another DTS3. The radio’s algorithm enables users to incorpo- carry 100 pounds of fuel, communications, and
The Parvus DuraCOR 8042 rugged modu- rate meshed devices into the network in which sensor payloads. It takes off by catapult and
lar mission computer subsystem is based on a the devices themselves form the communication lands on its belly.
quad-core, eight-thread, fifth-generation Intel infrastructure. “This smart platform frees up valuable space
Core i7 Broadwell microprocessor. The small- The MPU5 then enables that critical informa- and weight and in doing so, increases the endur-
form-factor mission computer is qualified to MIL- tion to quickly be disseminated to mobile teams ance and payload carrying capability of the Res-
STD environmental and EMI testing. on the ground and positively impact their mission. olute Eagle,” says Joe Sartiano, PAE ISR chief
Its PCI Express Mini Card slots and a PCI Keeping our soldiers safe while simultaneously operating officer, says of the Persistent Systems
Express/104 bus architecture supports rapid making them more effective is the overall goal.” MPU5 radio.
add-on I/O module integration for size, weight, “The ability to deliver real-time intelli- “The MPU5’s unique ability to rapidly change
and power (SWaP)-sensitive applications. It gence data from an aircraft to teams of dis- C, L, and S bands by swapping the interchange-
combines graphics and multi-core processing in mounted users is a force multiplier,” Rubens able frequency modules paired with the Resolute
a fanless IP67 design. says. “The aircraft’s small operational footprint Eagle’s large multi-intelligence payload capacity
On this contract Curtiss-Wright will do and extremely large payload capacity enables makes this a game-changing capability,” says
the work in Dayton, Ohio, and Salt Lake City, it to carry the most advanced sensor systems Jake Jacobs, PAE ISR chief technology officer.
and should be finished by this summer. Cur- available and can be operated just about “The MPU5 and its Wave Relay MANET technol-
tiss-Wright will ship products to the TacAir facil- anywhere.” ogy allow the Resolute Eagle to achieve higher
ity in St. Augustine, Fla. The Resolute Eagle UAV uses line-of-sight, data-rates and deliver actionable intelligence
For more information contac t Cur- beyond-line-of-sight, and beyond-visual-line-of from its multi-int sensors in near real-time.”
tiss-Wright Defense Solutions online at www. sight RF communications for law enforcement, For more information contact Persistent
curtisswrightds.com or Tactical Air Support at homeland security, humanitarian, and commer- Systems online at www.persistentsystems.com,
https://tacticalairsupport.com. cial UAV missions. or PAE ISR at www.paeisr.com. 
32  
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1902mae30-32.indd 32 2/4/19 3:17 PM


To submit new products for consideration,

new products
contact John Keller at [email protected].

VIDEO PROCESSING RUGGED CABLING

Abaco and EIZO to bring High-temperature Ethernet cables


GPGPU and video processing for avionics and other extreme (COMINT), signals intelligence (SIGINT), radar,
to high-performance embedded environments introduced by MilesTek research, and instrumentation. These boards
computing (HPEC) MilesTek Corp. in Lewisville, Texas, is introducing provide quad A/D conversion with sample rates
Abaco Systems in Huntsville, Ala., is collab- a series of high-temperature Ethernet cables for as fast as 3 giga-samples per second (AD9208)
orating with EIZO Rugged Solutions Inc. in at 14-bits and a quad D/A converter (Analog
Altamonte Springs, Fla., on military and aero- Devices AD9162 or AD9164) with update rates
space video processing and general-purpose as fast as 12 giga-samples per second and direct
graphics processing unit (GPGPU) technol- RF synthesis at 6 giga-samples per second.
ogy for high-performance embedded com- The boards have an on-board, re-configurable
puting (HPEC) systems. This collaboration is UltraScale XCKU115 field-programmable gate
enabling Abaco to expand its NVIDIA-based array (FPGA) which interfaces to the A/D con-
GPGPU board and system family. Typical com- verter and D/A converter. The FPGA interfaces to
pute-intensive applications will include intelli- three banks of DDR4 memory channels to store
gence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), aerospace and extreme high-temperature envi- large buffer sizes during embedded comput-
electronic warfare (EW), radar and sonar ronment applications. The cable assemblies fea- ing as well as for queuing the data to the host.
and remote sensing and analysis, as well as ture FEP jackets that are rated to a tempera- The AMC598 comes with an 8HP panel size; it
ture range of -55 to 150 degrees Celsius, and a will occupy two mid-size slots in a chassis. The
double shielded cable with 100 percent foil and VPX598 routes x8 high-speed serializer/deseri-
85 percent braid shields that provide maximum alizer (SerDes) to the P1 that could be config-
EMI and RFI protection. These Ethernet cables ured as PCI express and Serial RapidIO and 10
come off-the-shelf in Cat6a, Cat5e and Cat5e Gigabit Ethernet and Aurora etc. and x8 high
slim construction versions and comply with all speed SerDes to P2 that could be configured for
RoHS directives. Furthermore, the fire proper- SRIO and 10 Gigabit Ethernet and Aurora. For
ties of these Ethernet cables meet FAR (Federal more information contact VadaTech online at
Aviation Regulation), Airbus and Boeing require- www.vadatech.com.
ments. “Our high temp cables are perfect for
in-flight systems, cabin management applica-
tions, ground vehicle trunks, backbone avionics, POWER ELECTRONICS
high-temp testing and for general military, avi- Rugged power supplies with high
onics or aerospace use,” says MilesTek Product operating efficiencies for industrial
Manager Mark Hearn. For more information uses introduced by TDK Lambda
video capture and processing. EIZO Rugged contact MilesTek online at www.milestek.com. TDK-Lambda Americas Inc. in San Diego is intro-
Solutions’ product line capitalizes on NVIDIA ducing the 1500-Watt CUS1500M series of
Pascal GPU technology to deliver as much as
6.4 TeraFLOPS of floating-point performance BOARD PRODUCTS
for video processing from one 3U OpenVPX Digital signal processing boards for
chassis slot. As well as 3U OpenVPX platforms, VPX SIGINT embedded computing
Abaco will offer XMC solutions with NVIDIA introduced by VadaTech
GPUs. For more information contact Abaco VadaTech Inc. in Henderson, Nev., is introduc-
Systems online at www.abaco.com, or EIZO ing the AMC598 and VPX598 digital signal pro-
Rugged Solutions at www.eizorugged.com. cessing boards for communications intelligence
www.militaryaerospace.com MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS  F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 9   33

1902mae33-36.indd 33 2/4/19 3:28 PM


new products
AC-DC power supplies for industrial, medical, predictions of at least 10 years. For more infor-
cosmetic laser treatment and analysis equip- mation contact TDK-Lambda Americas online
ment requiring less than 300 microamps earth at www.us.tdk-lambda.com.
leakage current, low audible noise, and class B
EMI. The announcement extends the CUS-M fam-
ily of products, which cover 30 to 1500 Watts. SPECTRUM ANALYZERS
The CUS1500M has medical and Information Spectrum analyzer for aerospace
Technology Equipment (ITE) certifications. The and defense test and measurement
1500-Watt additions are available with 12, 15, introduced by Rohde & Schwarz
24, 36, and 48-volt outputs, adjustable from Rohde & Schwarz in Munich is expanding the
-15/+20 percent (+15 percent for the 48-volt) of company’s Spectrum Rider FPH family of handheld
nominal. All models accept an 85 to 265-volt AC spectrum analyzers with three new base models Since upgrades require neither downtime nor reca-
input and can operate at full load in ambient tem- providing frequency ranges from 5 kHz to 6 GHz, libration, users can upgrade their base models. The
peratures from -20 to 50 degrees Celsius, derat- 13.6 GHz, and 26.5 GHz for everyday measurement Spectrum Rider FPH is a tool for verifying signal
ing linearly to 60 percent load from 50 to 60 C. tasks in aerospace and defense, mobile network transmission over 5G, broadcast, radar and satel-
High operating efficiencies to 88 percent reduce testing and broadcasting. These test and measure- lite communications links. Higher-frequency models
internal waste heat and component tempera- ment devices offer a capacitive touchscreen and a enable the rugged Spectrum Rider FPH to perform
tures, resulting in electrolytic capacitor service life unique frequency upgrade concept via keycodes. measurement tasks in the field and lab. Weighing

PRODUCT & LITERATURE SHOWCASE

VIDEO
DISPLAY, SWITCHING & TRANSMISSION
We Have Proven Solutions

Joint Strike Fighter . Phalanx . THAAD . AEGIS . Canadian Frigate


We offer integrated COTS systems including multiviewers,
video wall processors, codecs, baseband switchers,
extenders, & networked video control systems.

R G B SPECTRUM (510) 814-7000 [email protected] www.rgbdefense.com

1902mae33-36.indd 34
RGBSpecREV_MAE_1902 1 2/4/19 11:38
1/8/19 3:18 PM
AM
5.5 pounds, the Spectrum Rider FPH spectrum analyzers have a battery that
lasts more than six hours. The analyzer can be controlled remotely via USB or
LAN. Its MobileView app for iOS and Android provides wireless remote control
of the Spectrum Rider FPH from a mobile device. For more information contact
SUBSCRIPTION INQUIRIES
Rohde & Schwarz online at www.rohde-schwarz.com. Phone: 1-800-869-6882 / International Callers: +1 512-982-4277
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: www.mae-subscribe.com

MOTION CONTROL
GROUP PUBLISHER Alan Bergstein

Differential measurement for space and airborne night 603 891-9447 ⁄ [email protected]
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF John Keller
vision and image stabilization introduced by Kaman 603 891-9117 ⁄ [email protected]
The Measuring Division of Kaman Precision Products Inc. in Middletown, ASSOCIATE EDITOR Jamie Whitney
603 891-9135 ⁄ [email protected]
Conn., is introducing the KD-5100 differential measurement system for night
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR WESTERN BUREAU J. R. Wilson
vision systems, precision telescope positioning, fast steering mirrors (FSM) 702 434-3903 ⁄ [email protected]

for space-based and airborne applications, and image stabilization systems. ART DIRECTOR Meg Fuschetti

PRODUCTION MANAGER Sheila Ward


The measurement system provides resolution to a nanometer of positional
SENIOR ILLUSTRATOR Chris Hipp
change. With its stable design, small size, and low power consumption, the
AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Debbie Bouley
KD-5100 has a package size of 2 by 2.12 by 0.75 inches thick for applications 603 891-9372 ⁄ [email protected]
AD SERVICES MANAGER Glenda Van Duyne
where space is a limiting factor. It is manufactured to MIL-H-38534, with
918 831-9473 ⁄ [email protected]
MARKETING MANAGER Adrienne Adler
603 891-9420 ⁄ [email protected]

www.pennwell.com

AS 9100D / ISO 9001:2015 CERTIFIED EDITORIAL OFFICES


PennWell Corporation,

PHALANX II:
Military & Aerospace Electronics
61 Spit Brook Road, Suite 501, Nashua, NH 03060
603 891-0123 ⁄ www.milaero.com

THE ULTIMATE NAS SALES OFFICES


EASTERN US & EASTERN CANADA & UK
Supports AES-256 and FIPS140-2 encryption Keith Gregory, Sales Manager
508 1/2 Ocean Park Ave., Bradley Beach, NJ 07720
732-897-9550 / Cell 917-993-3741
[email protected]
WESTERN CANADA & WEST OF MISSISSIPPI
Jay Mendelson, Sales Manager
4957 Chiles Drive, San Jose, CA 95136
408 221-2828 ⁄ [email protected]
REPRINTS Jessica Stremmel
717 505-9701 x2205 ⁄ [email protected]
DIRECTOR LIST RENTAL Kelli Berry
918 831-9782 ⁄ [email protected]
For assistance with marketing strategy or ad creation,
please contact PennWell Marketing Solutions
Utilizing two removable SSDs, the Phalanx II is a rugged Kaci Wheeler
918 832-9377 ⁄ [email protected]
Small Form Factor (SSF) Network Attached Storage (NAS)
file server designed for manned and unmanned airborne, CORPORATE OFFICERS
undersea and ground mobile applications. PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Mark C. Wilmoth

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT


AND STRATEGY Jayne A. Gilsinger
w w w . p h e n x i n t . c o m
CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER, PENNWELL MEDIA Robert Brighouse

TECHNOLOGY GROUP
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT/PUBLISHING DIRECTOR & CMO June Griffin

F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 9 35

PhoInt_MAE_1802 1 1/23/18 8:53 AM

1902mae33-36.indd 35 2/4/19 3:18 PM


new PRODUCTS
secure applications also are available. The system
comes with an 8- or 12-core computing board
with a PCI Express link to four slots for additional
peripheral boards. Alternatively, SY TR2/525 is for
applications that require a computer board and
as many as four I/O boards, as it removes the
need for a PCI Express fabric switch board. A rear
transition module with two 10 Gigabit Ethernet
uplinks comes with the embedded computing
board to communicate with external systems. The open-frame; u-channel; and enclosed. The
system also has an AC power supply and cooling power supplies offer efficiency of 15.27 Watts
fans. For more information contact Concurrent per cubic inch. Available in three single output
Technologies online at www.gocct.com. models: 12-, 24-, and 48 volts DC, each unit fea-
MIL-SPEC components used throughout the elec- tures 90 to 264-volt-AC input voltage ranges;
tronics module wherever possible. The KD-5100 no-load power consumption of less than 300 mil-
features rugged construction, with a mean time POWER SUPPLIES liwatts, operating temperature ranges of -30 to
between failures of better than 238,000 hours Rugged 120-Watt AC-DC 70 degrees Celsius (with derating); mean time
in a space flight environment and 55,000 hours power supplies for mission- between failures of more than 250,000 hours per
in a tactical environment. For more information critical applications introduced MIL-HDBK-217F at full load, and at 25 C ambient
contact Kaman Precision Products online at by Power Partners and weight of 6.4 ounces. All models of these
www.kamansensors.com. Power Partners Inc. in Hudson, Mass., is intro- rugged power electronics devices are designed
ducing the PDAM120 series of 120-Watt AC-DC to meet Level VI requirements and suitable for BF
power supplies for life- and mission-critical applied part applications. This series is certified
EMBEDDED COMPUTING applications such as medical and public trans- to UL/cUL/EN60601-1, UL/cUL/EN60950-1, EMC
3U VPX development device portation. The power electronics devices feature Class B radiated and conducted EN55011, and
for rugged systems introduced either Class I or Class II input configurations, Class A susceptibility EN55011. For more infor-
by Concurrent Technologies and come in industry-standard 2-by-3-inch pack- mation contact Power Partners online at http://
Concurrent Technologies Inc. in Woburn, Mass., ages. They are available in three design options; powerpartners-inc.com. 
is introducing the SY TR2/525 3U VPX develop-
ment system for applications that require a com-
puter board closely coupled to field-program- A DV E R T I S E RS I N D E X
mable gate array (FPGA) or graphics processing ADVERTISER PAGE

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Cobham Semiconductor Solutions............................................................................................................7
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Data Device Corporation ...........................................................................................................................17
bandwidth. Concurrent Technologies can supply Dawn VME ....................................................................................................................................................13
a range of M.2 modules for use in rugged and ECS..................................................................................................................................................................21
extended-temperature operating environments. Elma Electronic Inc.....................................................................................................................................15
General Micro Systems Inc. ..................................................................................................................... C4
M.2 modules with encryption capability for more
Master Bond Inc. .........................................................................................................................................26
Mercury Systems ..........................................................................................................................................8
Milpower Source .........................................................................................................................................23
Pasternack Enterprises ............................................................................................................ 3, 11, 19, C3
Pentek ........................................................................................................................................................... C2
Phoenix International ................................................................................................................................35
Pixus Technologies .....................................................................................................................................20
Radiall AEP Inc. ...........................................................................................................................................27
RGB Spectrum .............................................................................................................................................34
SRC Inc. ...........................................................................................................................................................5
VPT Inc. ...........................................................................................................................................................9

36 F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 9 MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS www.militaryaerospace.com

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Largest In-Stock Selection of

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Pasternack’s RF Engineering team has assembled the largest selection of in-stock and ready to ship waveguide
components covering RF, microwave and millimeter-wave bands up to 110 GHz. With 20 different waveguide categories
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