Rise of the Drones: How mmWave Technology is Transforming Military Communications
Defense Industry Outlook in 2025 – AI gets the job done, better together with Industry 5.0, drones go to sea as ships get smaller, and cybersecurity requirements ramp-up
COTS (kots), n. 1. Commercial off-the-shelf. Terminology popularized in 1994 within U.S. DoD by SECDEF Wm. Perry’s “Perry Memo” that changed military industry purchasing and design guidelines, making Mil-Specs acceptable only by waiver. COTS is generally defined for technology, goods and services as: a) using commercial business practices and specifications, b) not developed under government funding, c) offered for sale to the general market, d) still must meet the program ORD. 2. Commercial business practices include the accepted practice of customer-paid minor modification to standard COTS products to meet the customer’s unique requirements.
—Ant. When applied to the procurement of electronics for he U.S. Military, COTS is a procurement philosophy and does not imply commercial, office environment or any other durability grade. E.g., rad-hard components designed and offered for sale to the general market are COTS if they were developed by the company and not under government funding.
Copyright 2025, RTC Media. Printed in the United States. All rights reserved. All related graphics are trademarks of The RTC Group. All other brand and product names are the property of their holders.
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The INSIDE TRACK Reforming Defense Acquisitions To Promote Global Security
For more than 30 years, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) has invented, innovated, and delivered disruptive new defense technologies in support of the United States and its allies, redefining the future of global security in the process. As the world leader in unmanned aerial systems, this position gives us unique insights into America’s policy and regulatory challenges when adopting revolutionary new capabilities and technologies.
They remain vocal advocates for reform within the US defense acquisition system and support recent calls for ideas and engagement on the topic. To further this dialogue, GA-ASI recently submitted a letter to the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) outlining several steps we believe will be instrumental in reformation efforts.
A copy of that letter is provided below to generate additional public discussion on the current state of operations and the path forward.
24 January 2025
Dear Mr. Musk,
This is an exciting time in Washington, DC, and nationwide. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI), the leader in unmanned aerial systems, is eager to work with the DOGE on the important task of reforming defense acquisition to enhance its efficiency and contribution to national security. GA-ASI, an industry upstart and disruptor, led the world in designing and developing unmanned aerial vehicles and touched off a revolution in military affairs. All of this was accomplished despite significant friction and resistance from the establishment. We continue to feel this resistance as we seek to break new ground with technologies to ensure the US and allied forces maintain a decisive operational edge in an increasingly dangerous world.
We propose to apply our decades of experience with defense acquisition to address the policies, procedures, and organizational oddities that hinder timely delivery of critical capabilities to warfighters. Within GA-ASI’s export market, poor US Government (USG) policy and sluggish bureaucratic decision-making have opened the door for competitors like China, Turkey, and Israel to win critical international customers. Sales lost to these competitors while we waited for USG action means less funding for re-investment into R&D and modernized manufacturing infrastructure.
Bold leadership is needed. Past reform efforts, often supervised by the organizations most need reform, have failed. DOGE has the potential to drive meaningful change, and we are ready to help where we can.
As you search for efficiencies within the USG’s defense acquisition system, let me flag a few areas that deserve special attention. We can provide more detailed descriptions and recommendations upon request.
Delays: Use available authorities to expedite acquisitions, prioritizing warfighter needs over obsession with process. Special rules and processes exist to speed acquisition. But they aren’t used frequently enough and are often modified over time to conform with standard, slower processes. The USG could accelerate more significant system acquisi- tions simply by setting time limits on DoD milestones to ensure that the period between “requirements definition” and “initial operating capability” (IOC) does not exceed five years.
Buck-passing: Establish accountability within the US Foreign Military Sales (FMS) system, in which execution is fragmented across the Department of State, multiple DoD agencies, and the military services, with none able to direct the others. Nobody is ultimately accountable for achieving or failing the administration’s strategic objectives related to selling defense articles to allies. Accountability can be achieved through clear lines of authority and responsibility, time limits for decision-making, and a modern IT system to track the distribution and expenditure of billions of dollars (entirely funded by foreign customers) in the US FMS administrative fund account.
Self-shackling: Reform the US interpretation of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) to focus on missile technology tied to weapons of mass destruction rather than UAS. Today, the antiquated MTCR interpretation ties the USG’s hands even on straightforward export programs that enjoy bipartisan support. We should counter the unfair market advantages gained by foreign suppliers not subject to self-imposed MTCR limitations. Further, we must objectively balance prioritizing technology security with armin g allies and partners (using their money!) for future conflicts and increased burden-sharing.
We look forward to collaborating with you in your important new role.
Sincerely,
Linden Blue Chief Executive Officer General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc.
The INSIDE TRACK
General Dynamics Mission Systems to provide advanced electronics in MK 54 Torpedoes for the US Navy
General Dynamics Mission Systems announced that it was awarded a fixed-priceincentive, firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee, and cost-only contract from the US Navy in December for up to $808.6 million to produce MK 54 MOD 1 Lightweight Torpedo Kits and related test equipment, spares, provisioned
item orders, engineering support and hardware support for the MK 54 Lightweight Torpedo Program. Work will be performed in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, and is expected to be completed by December 2032.
“Our Progeny Systems employees have been providing advanced torpedo electronics to the US and allied Navies for 18 years. This contract ensures that our surface ships and aircraft will have the most modern and capable torpedoes in the world for many years
to come,” said Laura Hooks, vice president and general manager of Maritime and Strategic Systems at General Dynamics Mission Systems.
Progeny Systems was acquired by General Dynamics Mission Systems in 2022. Headquartered in Manassas, Virginia, Progeny Systems provides a wide spectrum of capabilities and lifecycle support services for US submarines and surface ships.
Elistair announced that it has been awarded a €3 million contract to supply tethered small UAS to an allied military force. This contract, se-
cured in collaboration with the world-leading robotics and autonomous systems developer Milrem Robotics, involves the delivery of Khronos tethered small UAS, initial spares, training, and support. Milrem Robotics will supply the military vehicles equipped with Elistair’s advanced UAS. Deliveries are set to begin in the second quarter of 2025.
Compact, fully automated, and designed for integration into moving vehicles, Khronos offers unmatched endurance and stability. It provides real-time aerial intelligence and enhanced situational awareness even in GNSS-denied environments. Its continuous operation capabilities make it an ideal solution for persistent surveillance, ensuring mission-critical information is always available.
Elistair Awarded €3 Million Contract for Tethered Small UAS by Allied Military Force
The INSIDE TRACK
PseudolithIC Inc. Raises $6M in Seed Funding to Revolutionize Wireless Chips with Proprietary Chiplet Heterogeneous Integration Technology
Hybrid approach pushes the boundaries of RF technology.
Enables cost-effective solutions for next-gen 5G/6G networks, satellite communications, and autonomous systems
PseudolithIC Inc., an innovative leader in RF (radio frequency) chipset products, announced it has successfully raised $6 million in a seed funding round. Entrada Ventures led the round, which included additional investments from Foothill Ventures and Uncork Capital.
ufacturing efficiency, and low cost. Compound semiconductors, however, are constructed with specialized processing. While they offer enhanced performance, particularly at higher frequencies, these materials are fabricated on smaller wafers and are more expensive to produce.
The PseudolithIC chip offers the high performance of a monolithic microwave IC (MMIC) but at a fraction of the cost. The company’s proprietary technology integrates high-performance compound semiconductor chiplets with low-cost 300mm silicon wafers, offering superior performance, power efficiency, and scalability for RF applications. This next-generation approach addresses key challenges in wireless communications, particularly for fast-growing and critical industries such as terrestrial and satellite com-
for customers requiring high-performance wireless solutions.”
PseudolithIC is based in Santa Barbara, CA, and currently has a dedicated team of more than 15 employees focused on advancing the company’s pioneering products. The fresh infusion of capital enables the company to expand its team and accelerate research and development to bring its products to market.
“We’re really enthusiastic about leading PseudolithIC’s seed round,” said Alex Fang, Managing Partner at Entrada Ventures. “The opposing metrics of performance and scale have limited the wireless industry. We think Florian and Jim have developed something here that will unlock a new era in wireless systems that will result in
The investment will enable the company to accelerate the development and commercialization of hybrid semiconductor products that integrate compound semiconductor chiplets into silicon wafers. These products aim to transform both the technical performance and the economics of the RF and millimeter-wave communication industry.
Silicon, the workhorse of the semiconductor industry, offers uniform processing, high man-
munications, aerospace, and IoT (Internet of Things) applications.
“Our team is excited to push the boundaries of what is possible in RF technology,” said Jim Buckwalter, CTO of PseudolithIC and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UC Santa Barbara. “The hybrid approach of combining silicon and compound semiconductor chiplets unlocks new potential for RF systems, enabling faster data rates, lower latencies, and better reliability. Our innovations will be game-changing
unprecedented performance on mobile and satellite platforms.”
Florian Herrault, CEO of PseudolithIC, said, “We are thrilled to have the backing of such investors as Entrada Ventures, Foothill Ventures, and Uncork Capital. Our goal is to lead the charge in providing cost-effective, high-performance silicon RFIC solutions augmented with compound semiconductors that meet the ever-growing demands of next-generation wireless systems.”
The INSIDE TRACK
Saab to Demonstrate New Naval Autonomous Systems Capability at WEST 2025
Skapa by Saab, the company’s newly formed technology accelerator, will showcase the interoperability of Autonomous Ocean Core at a demonstration during the WEST 2025 conference in San Diego with partners Aalyria, ANELLO, Hidden Level, Microsoft, Mythos AI and Second Front.
Autonomous Ocean Core is a control system versatile across all naval platforms that enables un-crewed and autonomous systems to work in a safe and predictable way—on the surface and underwater.
“Saab’s Autonomous Ocean Core provides a solid foundation for expanding autonomous operations through continuous development and integration of third-party capabilities,” said Erik Smith, President and CEO of Saab in the US. “We We are excited to add our partners’ enhanced capabilities and provide customers with an increased tactical edge while becoming less dependent on active manpower. Safe and reliable autonomous operations are the future of naval warfare.”
The Autonomous Ocean Core system has different modes for maneuvering on a mission, each supporting precise control and operational flexibility based on the mission’s need while also enabling the flexibility to integrate with new or existing platforms. The system is ready to per-
The demonstration will highlight a sample of mission-sets enabled by Saab’s Autonomous Ocean Core integrated with the capabilities of our partners. Autonomous Ocean Core enables un-crewed vessels to operate on Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition, and Reconnaissance (ISTAR), electronic warfare, assault, mine countermeasures, search and rescue, and logistics missions.
form a variety of missions right out of the box, with or without added functionality.
Saab’s leadership in autonomous systems includes Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs), Unmanned Surface Vessels (USVs), Autonomous Surface Vessels (ASVs) and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) which work with eabed infrastructure, anti-submarine warfare training, and mine hunting.
The INSIDE TRACK
Viasat Wins Task Order Award to Provide US Space Force with Low Earth Orbit Services
Viasat will provide a low Earth orbit satellite communications capability to support Department of Defense missions.
Viasat, Inc. announced that Inmarsat Government (dba Viasat) received a Task Order award to provide satellite communications (SATCOM) services under the Proliferated Low Earth Orbit (PLEO) Satellite-Based Services (SBS) Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract, which was awarded in 2023 to multiple vendors by the US Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) on behalf of the US Space Force and Space Systems Command (SSC) Commercial Satellite Communications Office (CSCO).
This is Viasat’s first Task Order award under the 10-year IDIQ contract, which now has an expanded ceiling value of $13 billion. As part of this contract, Viasat aims to provide a suite of fully managed LEO satellite-based services and capabilities, including space relay services, supplemented by GEO and NGSO satellites, supporting all domains—space, air, land, maritime, and cyber.
Under this initial $3.5 million Task Order, Viasat will provide Ku-band LEO services through a partner network to support US government operations in various global locations. As part of
Nohau Solutions and Percepio Announce Partnership
Nohau Solutions is excited to announce a new distribution partnership with Percepio AB, a trusted provider of developer tools for visual trace diagnostics and real-time application monitoring. This collaboration will deliver advanced quality assurance, testing, and observability tools, empowering embedded software developers to enhance product performance and security across the entire development lifecycle.
With a proven track record in optimizing embedded software development, Nohau Solutions is committed to enhancing software
this work, Viasat will provide network management support, including real-time data through an online account management tool, and offer comprehensive technical support 24/7 to ensure uninterrupted service. A leading satellite services provider and network integrator, Viasat has worked with trusted satellite owners/operators to provide the bandwidth government customers require at a cost-effective price point.
As government operations increasingly depend on space-based capabilities from trusted commercial operators for defense and national security missions, resilient communications architectures that include satellites in geostationary (GEO) and non-geostationary orbits (NGSO) are critical. The expansion of satcom services in LEO is part of a Department of Defense (DoD) strategy to strengthen resilience for satellite communications, remote sensing, and other capabilities by diversifying and integrating the orbits used.
“Viasat has a history of delivering integrated SATCOM solutions and service offerings across
multiple bands and orbits to address government customers’ unique requirements. This new Task Order award is a testament to our team’s continued commitment and ability to provide diverse, multi-orbit SATCOM solutions with the global reach, scalability, and flexibility to meet the needs of today’s global military operations,” said Victor Farah, Senior Vice President of Government Services and Solutions at Viasat. “We are proud to provide the government with a resilient low latency global LEO service that offers the flexibility to support the needs of combatant commands, other DoD organizations, and international coalition partners.”
quality, safety, and security. By integrating Percepio’s advanced tools, such as Tracealyzer and Detect, Nohau will provide its customers with robust solutions to streamline development and testing, gain real time insights into software performance, and proactively diagnose issues to improve overall product quality.
“Partnering with Percepio ensures that we continue to offer software organizations the best tools possible,” said Andreas Dyrhed, CEO of Nohau Solutions. “The Percepio products we add to our portfolio will supplement and strengthen our existing ones. The products will on their own also create new possibilities both in the development and in the operations phase of the Software De-
velopment Life Cycle.”
“Based on our decade-long commitment to improve the quality and efficiency of embedded software, we’re now set to bring Continuous Observability to this industry. This requires competent partners who share our vision,” said Andreas Lifvendahl, CEO of Percepio, and concluded: “In Nohau Solutions, we found a great match. Their long experience in providing comprehensive tools solutions is augmented by their commitment to supporting their customers in all phases – through advice, training, and services.”
The partnership between Nohau and Percepio will further extend the capabilities of embedded systems teams, making it easier than ever to build high-quality, secure, and reliable products. By combining Percepio’s top-tier observability solutions with Nohau’s specialized expertise and support, developers can reach
The INSIDE TRACK
RTX’s Raytheon Conducts Successful Test with LTAMDS and PAC-2 GEM-T Missile
Raytheon announced that its Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor, or LTAMDS, success-
fully completed another complex live-fire test. The sensor detected and tracked a high-speed cruise missile and guided a Patriot Advanced Capability-2 (PAC-2) Guidance Enhanced Missile-T (GEM-T) to defend against the surrogate threat. The milestone is the latest in a rigorous US Army test program advancing towards fielding the 360-degree, full-sector radar.
“This most recent test represents a significant milestone for both Raytheon and the Army, demonstrating the combat-proven PAC-2 GEM-T interceptor with the transformational LTAMDS radar,” said Tom Laliberty, president of Land and Air Defense Systems at Raytheon. “LTAMDS will further enhance Patriot’s unmatched air defense capabilities, helping the Army and customers around the globe defend against increasingly complex threats.”
This was the latest in a se-
ries of LTAMDS live-fire events highlighting the capabilities of the advanced 360-degree radar and its integration with the Army’s Integrated Air and Missile Defense architecture. The LTAMDS program is executing aggressively, with multiple radars being utilized for simultaneous testing and integration at various Raytheon and USG test locations.
Tests have increased complexity to stress the radar and prove its capabilities against real and representative threat sets. Throughout, LTAMDS has met complex objectives and showcased the radar’s performance. The program is expected to achieve Milestone C, the official transition from development to production, in the second quarter of FY2025.
International interest in LTAMDS is strong, with more than a dozen countries requesting information and receiving briefings. In August 2024, Raytheon was awarded a US Army contract valued at more than $2 billion to deliver radars for the US and Poland. With this Foreign Military Sale, Poland is the first international customer to add LTAMDS to their air and missile defense architecture.
The INSIDE TRACK
Wearable Devices Unveils the LLM of Gesture Control: Large MUAP Models (LMM) Set to Revolutionize HumanComputer Interaction
Pioneering AI-powered neural gesture technology enables personalized, intuitive interactions for the AI and XR era.
guage for AI, LMMs aim to unlock the power of neural gestures for seamless, natural interactions. By decoding Motor Unit Action Potentials (MUAPs)—the body’s language for communicating with muscles—Wearable Devices have created a new paradigm for gesture control. LMMs are harnessing the potential of big data to enable devices to understand and predict user intentions with unprecedented speed and
Wearable Devices’ flagship products, such as the Mudra Band for Apple Watch and the Mudra Link for universal device control, already demonstrate the power of neural interfaces. These devices allow users to control their digital environments with simple, natural gestures. LMMs have the potential to personalize our current technology, paving the way for a future where wearable technology is seamlessly integrated into our daily lives.
Wearable Devices Ltd., an award-winning pioneer in artificial intelligence (“AI”)based wearable gesture control technology, announced a groundbreaking advancement in human-computer interaction: Large MUAP Models (“LMM”). Building on the success of LLMs in natural language processing, Wearable Devices is actively developing LMMs to revolutionize how we interact with digital devices, aiming to offer personalized, intuitive gesture control powered by neural data. While still in development, this innovative technology holds immense potential to redefine human-device interaction.
The LMM Revolution: Decoding the Neural Alphabet
Just as LLMs unlocked the power of lan-
Mercury Wins New Development Program That Leverages Its Common Processing Architecture
Mercury Systems, Inc. announced it was awarded a two-year, $17 million development contract from a U.S. defense prime contractor for a program that leverages its Common Processing Architecture.
Mercury will replace and upgrade the existing processing capabilities provided by another firm for this follow-on program with the enhanced performance and Security that its
precision, making interactions faster and more intuitive than ever before. Personalized Gestures for a Natural User Experience
At the heart of LMMs is personalization. The technology learns from individual users, creating a unique neural profile that will enable gestures tailored to each person’s natural movements. Whether a subtle thumb swipe to select an option or a pinch-to-zoom gesture in augmented reality, LMMs will make interactions feel effortless and intuitive. “With LMMs, we are decoding the neural alphabet, potentially unlocking a strategically vital technology that fuses human neurology with AI. This breakthrough can potentially create sci-fi-like superhuman abilities, giving a fundamental edge to whoever masters it first,” said Guy Wagner, Chief Scientific Officer of Wearable Devices.
Common Processing Architecture delivers. With additional protection features, including Mercury’s BuiltSECURE™ technology, the system will be eligible for export to allied nations to support forward-deployed operations.
The Future of AI and XR: Powered by Neural Gestures
As spatial computing becomes the next platform, LMMs will provide the intuitive, natural interactions needed to unlock its full potential. Wearable Devices is focused on developing this technology and plans to seek collaboration with leading companies to integrate LMMs into next-generation extended reality (XR) platforms, ensuring that users can interact with their digital environments in ways that feel as natural as moving their hands.
“The future of XR and AI interactions is here, starting with your wrist,” added Mr. Wagner. “With LMMs, we are not just imagining the future—building it.”
The award follows a separate $49 million production agreement received in the first quarter that reflects the company’s progress in returning to full-rate production in its Common Processing Architecture product area.
“These awards and others demonstrate the strong demand for secure, high-performance processing solutions at the edge, as well as our customers’ confidence in our ability to deliver these capabilities at the necessary speed and scale,” said Tom Smelker, Mercury’s Senior Vice President of Processing Technologies.
The INSIDE TRACK
Progressing
on Track: PCIe 7.0
Specification, Version 0.7 Now Available for Member Review
As we enter 2025, I am pleased to announce that PCIe 7.0 specification version 0.7 is now available for member review. This specification incorporates all the feedback we received from members on version 0.5, released in April 2024, and brings us one step closer to the full release of the PCIe 7.0 specification, targeted for 2025.
I would like to recognize the hard work of our PCI-SIG® technical work groups, composed of volunteers who generously dedicate their time to developing the PCIe specifications. Thanks to them, we are going to achieve our cadence of releasing a new specification every three years.
· The PCIe 7.0 specification includes the following feature goals:
· Doubling the bandwidth of PCIe 6.0 specification (64 GT/s) to 128 GT/s raw bit rate and up to 512 GB/s bi-directionally via x16 configuration
· Utilizing PAM4 (Pulse Amplitude Modulation with four levels) signaling
· Focusing on the channel parameters and reach
· Continuing to deliver low-latency and high-reliability targets
· Improving power efficiency
Maintaining backward compatibility with all previous generations of PCIe technology PCIe 7.0 technology is a high-bandwidth, low-latency I/O interconnect targeted to support data-intensive, emerging applications, including 800G Ethernet, AI/ML, Cloud and Quantum Computing, Hyperscale Data Centers, High-Performance Computing (HPC), and Military/Aerospace.
Rise of the Drones: How mmWave Technology is Transforming Military Communications Rise of the Drones: How mmWave Technology is Transforming Military Communications
By Paul Kosac, Blu Wireless Inc.
AIn recent years, the defense sector has seen a significant rise in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs). This technology is transforming how modern forces conduct warfare. These systems reduce risk to human personnel and enhance reconnaissance capabilities. However, they face important challenges in effectiveness, latency, connectivity and detection.
From satellite backhaul to tactical edge
The Gulf War and Afghanistan conflicts relied heavily on satellite-controlled drones. These systems had significant latency issues and operational costs exceeded $50,000 per hour. Platforms like the Reaper were strategic assets controlled by operators thousands of miles away. Missions often lasted beyond twelve hours. They provided persistent surveillance but had limited real-time tactical value due to centralized operations and communication delays. The battlefield looks very different today. Modern tactical drones are mass-produced and provide immediate, low-latency capabilities at much lower costs. First Person Vision (FPV) drones reportedly1 may now operate up to 20 kilometers away.
These systems are changing traditional military roles. In many cases, they replace traditional sniper teams that were limited to ranges of a few thousand yards. Operators can now engage targets from longer, safer distances while maintaining precise control through firstperson views provided by drone technology.
Advancing communications through mmWave technology
One necessary advancement in drone capabilities comes from improved communications systems, particularly 5G mmWave technology. Traditional drones operate their Command and Control signals using WiFi and wireless telephone frequency bands and those are easily intercepted and jammed. mmWave technology operates in the 60 GHz V-band. It provides natural stealth through low probability of detection (LPD) and is resistant to jamming due to its narrow radio beams. This natural stealth helps forces maintain secure communications while avoiding electronic warfare techniques. Research shows mmWave systems perform better than traditional high-frequency radio in challenging conditions. The technology
accommodates rain and operates through moderate foliage.
The bandwidth capabilities far exceed traditional military communications systems. The tactical military data link network used by NATO, Legacy Link 16 systems, operates in the kilobit range. They can only handle basic telemetry and voice communications. By contrast, mmWave systems deliver gigabit speeds at close range. They maintain hundreds of megabits per second at longer distances. Testing shows these speeds remain hundreds of times faster than traditional military systems even at extended ranges.
Through our work developing mmWave technology for tactical scenarios we have been able to develop reliable links of up to 4,000 meters. Drones can operate at heights of up to 100 meters. In mesh configurations, these networks maintain stable connections across extended ranges.
Air Force cadet Junhyung Park works on a drone in preparation for a field test, Colorado Springs, Colo., Jan. 16, 2025.
Bluewireless pioneers mmWave signaling, transforming drone and autonomous vehicle communication. With unmatched precision and speed, it delivers a tactical edge in connectivity, ensuring reliable performance in critical missions.
Recent European military testing has validated an impressive communications system, demonstrating consistent gigabit speeds at close range. As distances increase, the bandwidth scales down in a predictable manner, while maintaining remarkably low latency of just a few milliseconds. Most notably, this minimal latency persists even when signals traverse multiple mesh network nodes - a crucial feature that enables real-time control and seamless sensor data transmission across the system.
Weather testing reveals even more advantages. We have found that mmWave technology can maintain reliable connections through various weather conditions. Performance through foliage exceeds expectations.
Meeting tactical challenges
Drone operations face significant challenges due to size, weight and power constraints. However, commercial mmWave technology offers COTS solutions through an innovative approach: tethered drone systems that can elevate antennas from 30 to 200 meters while maintaining continuous power and ethernet connectivity through the tether.
These flexible communication nodes enable commanders to rapidly overcome
terrain limitations, with mesh networking proving especially effective in GPS-denied environments. The networks demonstrate impressive capabilities, supporting up to 120 simultaneous nodes per drone and spanning distances up to 15,000 meters with minimal delay per hop. This low-latency performance enables real-time communications across extended battlespaces.
Perhaps most importantly, the networks’ ability to mesh daisy-chain connections beyond line-of-sight limits creates resilient communication infrastructures that can readily adapt to changing tactical situations.
Maritime and specialized applications
This mmWave technology has proven especially valuable in maritime operations, where sea-based drones can communicate effectively with sensor and relay buoys, enabling covert data collection without exposing naval vessels.
The technology’s exceptional capacity for gathering and transmitting sensor data enables rapid intelligence retrieval from forward-deployed sensors, while supporting sophisticated drone swarm operations. These coordinated swarms can operate with remarkable effectiveness, sharing sensor data across multiple platforms while maintaining precise positioning - even in contested environments where traditional navigation systems fail.
Adapting to modern warfare
Recent conflicts, particularly in Ukraine, have demonstrated the need for adaptable communication systems as forces grapple with managing drone swarms through robust networking. These challenges are driving rapid tactical evolution, evidenced by the addition of protective canopies on armored vehicles and the development of new electronic warfare capabilities.
Modern drone warfare has introduced a critical asymmetric dimension - adversaries can now deploy low-cost drones against highvalue targets, while traditional defense systems cost millions per engagement, making them economically unsustainable for prolonged conflicts. In response, COTS solutions utilizing commercial mmWave technology have emerged as a cost-effective alternative that can be deployed at scale, offering a practical answer to these evolving battlefield dynamics.
The integration of mmWave technology offers a path to maintaining tactical superiority at manageable costs. With its combination of high bandwidth, low latency and natural stealth characteristics, it proves ideal for next-generation military operations, enabling coordinated drone swarms, seamless sensor integration, and secure battlespace communications. Most importantly, these commercial mmWave systems can be deployed economically at scale through COTS solutions, reducing development costs while enabling rapid improvement without the burden of custom military development.
Several key technological developments are expanding military mmWave capabilities. Artificial intelligence integration is enhancing autonomous drone operations, while advanced mesh networking supports larger drone swarms. New antenna designs extend operational range while reducing power requirements. Crucially, these improvements stem from commercial sector innovation, saving millions in military research costs. The applications extend well beyond unmanned systems - ground forces can leverage mmWave for vehicle-to-vehicle communications, naval vessels can create secure fleet networks, and special forces can deploy portable systems for covert missions.
The cost advantages of this approach are multifaceted: commercial production scales reduce hardware costs, regular technology refreshes provide continuous improvement and standardized training and maintenance procedures lower operational expenses. The modular nature of COTS solutions enables targeted upgrades without complete system replacement. This strategy marks a new chapter in military communications evolution, demonstrating that commercial innovation can deliver military-grade capabilities.
Drone Survey
A
soldier operates a small unmanned aerial system along the French Broad River near Hot Springs, N.C., Oct. 9, 2024. Soldiers have been using the devices to survey difficult to reach areas affected by Hurricane Helene.
Defense Industry Outlook in 2025
Defense Industry Outlook in 2025
AI gets the job done, better together with Industry 5.0, drones go to sea as ships get smaller, and cybersecurity requirements ramp-up
AI gets the job done, better together with Industry 5.0, drones go to sea as ships get smaller, and cybersecurity requirements ramp-up
Rob Mather, VP Aerospace & Defense at IFS
2025 is all about human machine collaboration. In this article, Rob Mather, VP Aerospace & Defense at IFS, explores four key trends shaping the defense industry in 2025:AI-powered MRO to help human technicians, Industry 5.0 humanizes defense manufacturing, autonomous systems flip naval warfare on its head, and A&D manufacturers get serious about cybersecurity.
Prediction 1: Industrial AI steps up to address the defense MRO skills shortage
The ever-present skills gap in defense MRO continues apace in 2025. The defense industry is seeing an influx of next-gen platforms, as more global defense forces adopt the F-35 and completely new aircraft, such as the the B-21 Raider (a more technologically advanced subsonic strategic bomber) enter the fray, bringing the need for an entirely new maintenance knowledge base.
The workforce numbers are plain to see. According to War on The Rocks the U.S. Air Force alone is currently short 1,800 maintenance personnel, with the
U.S Government Accountability Office highlighting continuing challenges meeting aircraft readiness targets. To help mitigate these issues, Deloitte views 2025 as a pivotal year for defense organizations to consider the role AI technologies could play in enhancing traditional talent strategies.
Utilizing Industrial AI to enhance humanmachine interaction
One obvious application of AI is Optimization which offers several key Industrial AI use cases that can directly help organizations accomplish more with existing resources including:
• Schedule Optimization: Increasing the maintenance yield by scheduling all activities to as close to their deadline as
possible. Overall, this means over the lifetime of an asset, less total maintenance will be done, actually reducing the total work for technicians.
• Task Order Optimization: AI can analyze data to ensure the order in which tasks are performed is optimized to make the most of the resources and technicians available and perform maintenance in the most efficient order, minimizing unproductive time.
• Optimization of Technician Assignment: MROs can even optimize the assignment of the technician to the task, dependent on the technician’s skills, availability of assets requiring maintenance, and even geography/location on the aircraft, again, lowering unproductive time and maximizing utilization of the most valuable personnel.
Anduril Collaborates with Microsoft to Bring Lattice to the U.S. Army’s IVAS Program.
Beyond optimization, giving technicians access to specialized AI agents through mobile devices can help them quickly navigate complex technical information and manuals, particularly those for new and less familiar aircraft types, as well as reduce time spent troubleshooting by providing root cause and repair suggestions, while enhancing data entry—thereby empowering a single technician to accomplish more.
Prediction 2: Industry 5.0 humanizing defense manufacturing
It’s not just in the hangar where technology is directly helping human workers in the defense industry. Defense manufacturing in 2025 will see increasing adoption of the core principles of Industry 5.0—and its humanizing influence on factory processes, including how workers train for and execute work on the factory floor and beyond.
Meet the Meta-Operator – the defense manufacturing worker of the future
Some schools of research describe a “Meta-Operator”, defined an industrial worker that follows the principles of Industry 5.0 and interacts with Industrial Metaverse applications and with his/her surroundings through advanced Extended Reality (XR) devices.
XR is already being used as part of training, allowing them to encounter scenarios that are very rare in the real world and therefore take much more time to accrue experience against in conventional programs. Deloitte flags in its A&D Outlook
for 2025 with “emerging technologies such as extended reality, the industry will likely begin to enhance the training environment and shorten the time it takes to bring employees up to speed.” The use of XR is already making its way onto the floor though as well. Digital overlays comparing final product to spec, instructions overlayed on the product itself providing visual next steps, accessing the health information of the manufacturing machinery being used in their field of vision, and even gesture control to access technical documentation, are all examples of XR empowering a more efficient and effective worker.
New forms of interacting with systems extends into the aftermarket as well, once assets are manufactured and deployed in the field. Companies including BeastCode are developing 3D models of assets, such as in-service Naval ships. So, when technicians are executing maintenance on the ships, they can navigate straight to the part in question via the 3D model to look at it, investigate manipulate it, and understand how it interfaces with other parts on the ship. It forms an intuitive navigation model—where technicians are able to move around the 3D model to easily navigate the system and access all the pertinent information, taking digital twins to the next level for an experience straight out of science fiction.
The impact of drones and uncrewed systems on naval warfare is clear to see. We have no further to look than the conflict
in Ukraine to see that no longer are multibillion-dollar aircraft fleets or submarines required to disable large ships. Ukraine has disabled up to one-third of the Russian Black Sea fleet largely utilizing small remotely piloted sea drones. As a result, the makeup of naval fleets and the design of naval vessels is changing. More of the ships being developed in the future will be autonomous or have minimal crews based on the capability of automated systems available today. Conventional Aircraft Carriers are being joined by UAV carriers, exemplified by recent orders and testing of UAV carriers from Portugal, Türkiye, and the U.K. These carriers provide the ability to launch droneattacks from sea. We are learning that bigger does not necessarily mean better.
Uncrewed systems are also high priority in the U.S. DoD Replicator initiative to augment “the way we fight, using large masses of uncrewed systems which are less expensive, put fewer people in the line of fire, and can be changed, updated, or improved with substantially shorter lead times.”
Autonomous capabilities will be in highdemand IFS customer Austal is working closely with the United States Navy and Royal Australian Navy and was recently awarded a $44 million autonomous design and construction contract by the U.S Navy, to deliver autonomous capabilities to the Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF13).
This ship is a multi-use military platform capable of rapidly transporting troops and their equipment, supporting humanitarian
BAE Systems partners with drone specialist for solar-powered UAV.
relief or operational efforts, and can operate in shallow waters. But supporting this level of autonomy means being able to collect and analyze vast amounts of data from sensors and other sources and produce actionable insights that improve mission success. As such, while capital ships will continue to form the core of large navies world-wide, more and more of the fleet mass will begin to shift to ships with minimal crews, and smaller, faster, cheaper, uncrewed vessels.
Prediction 4: The year A&D Manufacturers get serious about Cybersecurity
With increasingly digitized assets come increasingly tightened digital compliance
requirements across the defense industrial base—and cybersecurity is top of mind for defense departments, none more so than the U.S. Department of Defense. In October 2024, the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Program Final Rule was published and is expected to come into effect in mid-2025, with the Five Eyes nations aligning their own cybersecurity programs to the CMMS framework.
The U.S. DoD outlines: “The purpose of CMMC is to verify that defense contractors are compliant with existing protections for federal contract information (FCI) and controlled unclassified information (CUI) and are protecting that information
Cybersecurity requirements compliance gets real:
FedRAMP, CMMC, and more!
at a level commensurate with the risk from cybersecurity threats, including advanced persistent threats.” With the Five Eyes nations looking align to CMMC requirements, organizations in the defense supply chain who have not prioritized compliant levels of cybersecurity run the risk of losing contracts and their place in the defense industrial base.
Cybersecurity requirements compliance gets real: FedRAMP, CMMC, and more!
Imposing more stringent requirements across the defense industrial is needed to harden digital defense against external threats such as IP theft can seriously erode hard won technological advantages on the battlefield.
Alongside the CMMC requirements is the need for cloud-based solutions to adhere to Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) that provides a standardized approach to security assessment, authorization, and continuous monitoring. Although not necessarily a true requirement for all cases, FedRAMP is fast becoming a de facto security standard for doing business in the U.S. defense supply chain, but there is also a ensure this success, defense organizations need to make sure they are supported by manufacturing software architecture that adheres to military regulations now and into the future. With a secure managed cloud or hybrid enterprise software environment for critical compliance areas such as CMMC, FedRamp or ITAR, defense organizations can operate knowing compliance is assured.
The defense outlook for 2025 on land, sea and air
As usual, the defense industry is at the cutting edge of new principles, technologies and assets as we move into 2025. AIpowered solutions are set to revolutionize maintenance operations, while Industry 5.0 principles will humanize manufacturing processes. The evolving landscape of naval warfare, driven by the rise of drones and autonomous systems, is reshaping ship design and operational strategies. Underlining these digital developments, stringent regulations such as CMMC are driving a heightened focus on digital security.
By embracing these trends, defense organizations can optimize their operations, enhance workforce capabilities, and ensure the security of their critical assets.
COT’S PICKS
New Multi-Modem, Hybrid Communications Gateway for Secure Communications in Any Environment
The PacStar 465 module merges a wide range of wireless network protocols, including legacy military communications.
software-defined wide area networks (SD-WAN) and provides transport diversity for WAN/backhaul applications.
The PacStar 465 implements Auto-PACE (Automatic Primary, Alternate, Contingency, Emergency)-based transport diversity and can securely share sensitive data over in-country
Curtiss-Wright’s Defense Solutions Division has introduced the PacStar® 465, a new, multi-modem hybrid communications gateway module that allows joint users to communicate via secure military and commercial networks. The PacStar 465, the latest addition to Curtiss-Wright’s premier line of PacStar 400-Series tactical communications solutions, provides network transport diversity to support the United States Department of Defense (DOD) Combined Joint All Domain Command and Control (CJAD2) initiatives for sharing data in disparate environments. HybridComm™ powers the module from Fairwinds Technologies.
Network transport diversity enables users to reliably and securely communicate over a mix of both trusted (secure military communications systems) and untrusted (commercial networks, public Internet, or foreign-controlled) networks. The compact, rugged module serves as a mobile gateway for communications reliability. It features the flexibility to securely communicate in extremely diverse conditions, including austere denied, degraded, intermittent, and limited (DDIL) environments. The PacStar 465 is ideal for
wireless infrastructure, camouflaging it with native traffic. It can also operate without requiring a cloud management platform, which may be forbidden in many types of deployments.
“We are proud to introduce our new hybrid communications gateway module,” said Brian Perry, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions Division. The dual-modem PacStar 465 offers military and intelligence community end-users a single PacStar 400-Series module solution for secure communications over any combination of trusted and untrusted networks.”
The PacStar 465 supports black network transport bonding, aggregating multiple network connections to create a secure data fabric. To optimize mission success and operational resilience, the module can automatically combine multiple network types so users can maintain effective communications regardless of environmental, infrastructural, or adversarial challenges.
The module includes two cellular modems,
which support 5G for maximum throughput and 4G LTE fallback for compatibility worldwide, with options for 3G compatibility for use in regions with legacy infrastructure. It merges a wide range of network transports, including legacy military communications, wireless WAN, and 4G/5G for increased bandwidth and reliability. The PacStar 465 incorporates SD-WAN aggregation devices that bond managed and unmanaged SATCOM, terrestrial public and private 4G/5G, and emerging 5G and 6G space-based networks. It integrates bonded, multi-channel cellular LTE, Wi-Fi, fixed line, military and commercial satellite, GPS, and land mobile radio (LMR) extension capabilities with built-in LTE and Wi-Fi to provide transport diversity.
“HybridComm delivers secure, resilient connectivity to joint warfighters in any operational environment,” said Jim Sprungle, CEO of Fairwinds Technologies. “The platform combines multi-network transport diversity with advanced data camouflage capabilities, ensuring joint forces can communicate effectively even in denied or contested environments while remaining undetected. This integration with the widely deployed PacStar 400-Series brings mission-critical CJADC2 capabilities directly to the tactical edge, where our warfighters need them most.”
The flexible module supports industry-standard SIM cards or can operate like a native network user with multiple deployment options and enhanced, network-managed software packages designed for military and intelligence community end-users unique needs. The PacStar 465 supports Fairwinds Technologies HybridComm CrossLink™ to bond the bandwidth of multiple WAN connections and sustain the fast data links required by demanding, latency-sensitive applications when connected to wireless WAN or commercial low earth orbit (LEO) networks (e.g., Starlink™). It also supports advanced deployment options, including Fairwinds Technologies HybridComm ShawdowLink™. ShadowlLink enables enhanced data camouflage for blending data into untrusted, regional network traffic flows, making distinguishing between the protected data and the overall network traffic difficult.
The module also includes full Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) functionality that can be disabled by the user when required.
Curtiss-Wright’s curtisswright.com
February 2025COT’S PICKS
New High-Reliability, User Programmable Airborne L-Band Multimode Transmitter Supports Extended Range Flight Test Programs
New TTS-9610 multi-mode transmitter supports Curtiss-Wright MnACQ, MCDAU-2000, and MDW2020 data acquisition stacks.
Curtiss-Wright’s Defense Solutions Division introduced a new airborne L-Band multi-mode 5/10/20 W transmitter to provide state-of-theart IRIG-106-23 modulation for demanding flight test programs. The flexible TTS-9610 transmitter can be easily customized to meet each program’s unique specifications. It supports user programmability for center frequency, low-density parity-check (LDPC) encoding, and a high-efficiency power amplifier chain that delivers the industry’s highest power efficiency.
“Aerospace test flights, which are both costly and time-critical, demand reliable, accurate transmission of data to the ground from the airborne test platform,” said Brian Perry, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions Division. “Our new TTS-9610 multi-mode transmitter line delivers today’s highest reliability and power efficiency. It also features programmable power and LDPC encoding for optimal flexibility and enhanced range.”
The TTS-9610 combines programmable power and a highly reliable design to provide a flexible and dependable solution for ensuring critical data is successfully transmitted from air to ground on every test flight. It supports IRIG106 LDPC linear error correction, with fast encoding and decoding algorithms, to optimize the accuracy of data transmitted and received over noisy channels.
LDPC encoding and programmable power enable the transmitter to support extended flight range operation without increasing wattage. The TTS-9610’s low-power mode is ideal for pre-flight checkout to minimize self-heating and RF radiation and extend the transmitter’s lifespan. The unit features optimized thermal management to efficiently remove heat. An RS-232 interface eases the reconfiguration of the transmitter using standard IRIG-106 commands. The TTS-9610 is ideal for use in extended-range flight testing applications for launch vehicles and missile test flights.
The TTS-9610, the latest addition to Curtiss-Wright’s total flight test instrumentation (FTI) system approach, is easily integrated into data acquisition systems to support the transmission of data from MnACQ, MCDAU-2000, MDW-2020, and other data acquisition stacks.
Curtiss-Wright’s curtisswright.com
February 2025COT’S PICKS
Microchip launches the Next Generation of its low-noise chip-scale atomic clock, Featuring a Lower Profile Height of less than ½ Inches
The Low-Noise Chip-Scale Atomic Clock, model SA65-LN, enables frequency mixing for batterypowered devices.
Developers need ultra-clean timing devices for aerospace and defense applications where size, weight, and power (SWaP) constraints are critical. A Chip-Scale Atomic Clock (CSAC) is an essential reference for these systems, providing the necessary precise and stable timing where traditional atomic clocks are too large or power-hungry and where other satellite-based references may be compromised. Microchip Technology (Nasdaq: MCHP) today announces its second generation Low-Noise Chip-Scale Atomic Clock (LN-CSAC), model SA65-LN, in a lower profile height and designed to operate on a broader temperature range, enabling low phase noise and atomic clock stability in demanding conditions.
Microchip has developed its own Evacuated Miniature Crystal Oscillator (EMXO) technology
and integrated it into a CSAC, enabling the model SA65-LN to offer a reduced profile height of less than ½ inch while maintaining a power consumption of < 295 mW. The new design is optimal for aerospace and defense mission-critical applications such as mobile radar, dismounted radios, dismounted IED jamming systems, autonomous sensor networks, and unmanned vehicles due to its compact size, low power consumption, and high precision. Operating within a wider temperature range of −40°C to +80°C, the new LN-CSAC is designed to maintain its frequency and phase stability in extreme conditions for enhanced reliability.
“A significant advancement in frequency technology, our next generation LN-CSAC provides exceptional stability and precision in a remarkably compact form,” said Randy Brudzinski, corporate vice president of Microchip’s frequency and time systems business unit. “This device enables our customers to achieve superior signal clarity and atomic-level accuracy while benefiting from reduced design complexity and lower power consumption.”
The LN-CSAC combines the benefits of a crystal oscillator and an atomic clock in a single compact device. The EMXO offers low-phase noise at
10 Hz < −120 dBc/Hz and Allan Deviation (ADEV) stability < 1E-11 at a 1-second averaging time. The atomic clock provides an initial accuracy of ±0.5 ppb, low-frequency drift performance of < 0.9 ppb/ mo, and maximum temperature-induced errors of < ±0.3ppb. Compared to designs featuring two oscillators, the LN-CSAC can save board space, design time, and overall power consumption.
LN-CSAC’s crystal signal purity and lowphase noise are designed to ensure high-quality signal integrity, which is essential for frequency mixing. The atomic-level accuracy allows for longer intervals between calibrations, which can help extend mission durations and reduce maintenance requirements.
Microchip’s aerospace and defense products are designed to meet the stringent requirements of these markets, offering high reliability, precision, and durability. The company’s solutions include microcontrollers (MCUs), microprocessors (MPUs), FPGAs, power management, memory, security, and timing devices that ensure optimal performance in mission-critical applications such as avionics, radar systems, and secure communications.
Microchip microchip.com
February 2025COT’S PICKS
Mercury Introduces Digital Signal Processing Products Powered by Altera’s Newest Agilex™ 9 FPGAs
Mercury Systems, Inc. introduced a system-onmodule (SOM) and 3U SOSA-aligned OpenVPX board powered by Altera’s™ most advanced Agilex 9 Direct RF FPGA chips.
The DRF2270 SOM and DRF5270 3U board are the latest additions to Mercury’s Direct RF digital signal processing products that use Altera FPGAs to detect and process information from a vast portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. These commercially available products directly digitize radio frequency signals at the antenna, eliminating the analog signal down conversion stages required by legacy hardware. This approach requires fast converters, high-bandwidth digital data links, and robust real-time digital signal processing. The results are reductions in size, weight, power, cost, and latency that can benefit a variety of radar, communications, electronic warfare, SIGINT, and industrial applications.
Mercury’s DRF2270 is an 8-channel SOM that converts analog and digital signals at 64 Giga sam-
Infineon’s new radar MMIC RASIC™ CTRX8191F enables the next generation of 4D and HD imaging radars
The ability to detect pedestrians in dense urban environments is challenging to enable the next level of automated and autonomous driving. To meet the demands of SAE-defined L2+ to L4 autonomous driving, developing a new generation of 4D and imaging radars is crucial. That’s why Infineon Technologies AG (FSE: IFX / OTCQX: IFNNY) is releasing the final samples of its RASIC™ CTRX8191F, a new state-of-the-art 28nm radar MMIC. The CTRX8191F was specifically designed to meet the requirements
ples per second. It features Altera’s latest-generation Agilex 9 AGRW027 FPGA, which delivers enhanced performance with double the number of channel converters, 47% more logic elements, and 34% more memory than the previous generation chip. The DRF5270 board incorporates the DRF2270 SOM into a defense-ready 3U form factor with 10, 40, and 100 GigE optical interfaces. The flexible SOM design allows the DRF5270 to be easily customized to specific applications without requiring the board to be redesigned from scratch. The DRF2270 SOM can also be packaged into other small form factors and personalized designs.
IP across different programs,” said Ken Hermanny, Mercury’s Vice President of Signal Technologies. “With a growing portfolio of products that make Direct RF spectrum digitization possible, our customers now have more options to deploy this technology to capture, process, and exploit signals at the edge.”
Mercury continues to offer the DRF2580 SOM, based on the earlier Agilex 9 AGRW014 FPGA, and the DRF4580L, a small-form-factor module that incorporates the DRF2580 within a ruggedized, conduction-cooled enclosure ready for defense applications. All of Mercury’s Direct RF products come with the Navigator® Board Support Package and FPGA Design Kit, which allow customers to develop custom IPs for the module that can be installed within hours.
“The Mercury Processing Platform brings advanced commercial technologies to defense missions, allowing customers to save time and cost by deploy-
of automated and autonomous driving and offers high performance at low system cost. As a result, the device enables the development of next-generation radar imaging modules.
The CTRX8191F radar MMIC offers higher performance and an even better signal-to-noise ratio compared to previous generations. This level of performance is required to detect vulnerable road users and vehicles at a distance of up to 380 meters, using system configurations with eight transmitters and eight receivers. The RASIC MMIC enables cascading of multiple devices at low frequencies, reducing the need for expensive RF materials on the circuit board. In addition, the CTRX8191F features an optimized
“Altera’s Agilex™ 9 Wideband Direct RF FPGAs integrate either four or eight 64 Gsps ADC/DAC data converter pairs in the package with FPGA resources that provide real-time processing of up to an unprecedented 32 GHz of instantaneous bandwidth,” said Ben Esposito, Senior Principal Engineer, Military, Aerospace, and Government Business Unit at Altera. “By integrating circuitry that used to be done in the analog domain, these devices address size, weight, and power challenges of next-generation aerospace and defense missions. Our partnership with Mercury brings this cutting-edge RF technology to military customers, enabling rapid deployment via the different wideband platforms Mercury has developed.”
Mercury mrcy.com
launcher-on-package design that facilitates the use of low-cost waveguide antennas. Furthermore, its state-of-the-art digital PLL offers high flexibility in generating complex waveforms with the shortest flyback time on the market (<1 µs).
In addition, Infineon offers a comprehensive radar development kit called CARKIT to facilitate the rapid design and deployment of radar systems. CARKIT is based on the CTRX8191F sensor prototyping module, which supports various system configurations, including transmitting raw ADC data, FFT intermediate results, or radar detections via a Gigabit Ethernet interface. The included example code and graphical user interface enable rapid prototyping and design, allowing developers to implement their radar system concepts quickly and efficiently. Also included is a waveguide antenna that can be easily replaced with a custom antenna to meet specific customer requirements. Several versions of CARKIT are already available, including a next-generation 4D front radar configuration with eight transmitters and eight receivers and a cost-effective corner/front radar solution for the standard market with four transmitters and four receivers.
Infineon infineon.com
February 2025COT’S PICKS
New PCIe/104 Carrier Cards Host AcroPack Mini-PCIe I/O Modules for High-Performance Embedded Computing
Acromag now offers the Model APX4020 carrier cards to integrate their family of AcroPack I/O mezzanine modules into PC/104 computing systems. Both versions in PCIe/104 and PCI/104-Express formats provide two mezzanine module sites capable of hosting AcroPack or full-size PCIe mini cards. AcroPack modules offer a broad range of signal processing functions, including analog and discrete I/O, serial communication, avionics, and FPGA computing. Dual 50-pin connectors simplify the I/O interface between the modules and field signals without loose internal wires. Designed for rugged applications, AcroPacks are well-suited for use in defense, aerospace, and industrial applications where size, weight, and power (SWaP) optimization is required. Common applications include data acquisition & control, test & measurement, simulation, and communication operations.
Percepio® Launches Percepio Detect™: Spearheading Observability-Driven Development for Embedded Software
Percepio announces the launch of Percepio Detect, a groundbreaking tool that redefines how embedded software developers tackle testing, debugging, and observability challenges. Supporting the new best practice of Observability Driven Development (ODD), Percepio Detect enables next-generation DevOps for embedded software by seamlessly extending the capabilities of existing Continuous Integration and Continuous Testing (CI/CT) processes. Designed for edge devices and real-time systems. Percepio Detect empowers developers with real-time anomaly, brittleness risk detection, and actionable debugging insights while offering businesses a quantum leap in product quality and reliability.
New Capabilities for Embedded Development and Testing Teams
Percepio Detect is engineered to make life easier for embedded software engineers by addressing critical challenges in modern development workflows:
Detect Anomalies Early: Monitor runtime performance during testing to identify sub-
“With a more rugged design and advanced computing capabilities like an AMD Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC, isolated communication, or multi-function I/O, AcroPacks bring a higher level of I/O performance to PC/104 computing stacks,” explains Robert Greenfield, Acromag’s Business Development Director.
Designed and manufactured in the USA, AcroPack products improve on the mini PCI Express architecture by adding a down-facing
tle “near misses” and other stability risks that might otherwise evade detection.
Debug Faster and Proactively: Automatically capture detailed diagnostic snapshots— complete with core dumps, call stacks, and system traces—on the first occurrence of issues, saving days or weeks of debugging time. Analyze real forensic data from the system under actual execution and the occurrence of anomalies.
Empower Teams: With a centralized server dashboard and remote access, teams can collaborate seamlessly to resolve real-time issues, even on production hardware.
“This tool is like adding an advanced early warning system to your embedded software projects. Percepio Detect ensures developers catch anomalies before they escalate into cost-
100-pin connector that securely routes the I/O through a carrier card to its integrated external connectors, eliminating internal cables and metalwork modifications. An integrated conduction-cooling ring mates to an optional heat sink, enabling operation at higher temperatures. More than 25 I/O functions are available. Software tools support embedded applications on Linux®, Windows®, or VxWorks® operating systems.
Acromag acromag.com
ly problems,” said Johan Kraft, CTO and founder of Percepio AB. He added: “For example, you would know when the watchdog timer has timed out, but more critically, for quality assurance, you’d be notified if defined safety margins are breached.”
Observability is Needed Beyond Cloud-Native Environments
Percepio Detect represents a transformative opportunity to stay ahead in the competitive and heterogeneous embedded systems market, where increasing complexity and connectivity demand advanced observability solutions from the start of every project. With comprehensive testing of products before market release becoming impracticable, every software-centric business needs to adhere to the Observability-Driven Development paradigm. Percepio percepio.com
February 2025COT’S PICKS
Bright 7-inch Touch Display with Full Viewing Angle and long MTBF
Inelco Hunter has announced the availability of its new 7-inch Touch Display, featuring a 24-bit RGB interface and a long operational life of 20,000 hours MTBF. The 7-inch size is particularly suitable for applications requiring a long-life, high-brightness touch screen. Examples include EV chargers, autonomous devices, data routers, industrial control systems, IoT home products, and smart shopping trolleys.
The display features a high-resolution screen with 800 * 3 (RGB) * 480 Dots. The panel is a Transmissive LCD touch screen with an RGB-Strip interface, offering a full viewing angle. The unlit color is black.
The Drive IC is an ST72568 (or Compatible IC) device, and the output touch interface is I2C. The screen brightness is 425 cd/m2. The operating temperature is -20°C to +70°C, and the MTBF lifetime is impressive at up to 20,000 hours (25°C, IF= 160mA).
Inelco Hunter’s in-depth engineering support ensures rapid implementation, speeding up the customer’s time to market. This added-value support has been at the core of Inelco Hunter’s philosophy for 30 years, setting them apart from the “stock and ship” distributors.
Inelco Hunter inelcohunter.co.uk
nVent SCHROFF Launches Positive Retraction Card-Lok for Reliable PCB Removal in
Rugged Environments
nVent Electric plc announced the release of the Positive Retraction Card-Lok, designed to meet the demanding needs of rugged environments where reliable removal of printed circuit boards (PCBs) is critical.
The Positive Retraction Card-Lok features
an advanced mechanism that eliminates stiction, allowing the device to disengage seamlessly from the chassis wall. Once disengaged, the Card-Lok retracts, enabling quick and efficient PCB removal to quickly access vital electronics in the field.
This cutting-edge solution replaces the nVent SCHROFF 260, 265, and 280 Calmark & Birtcher lines. Compared to its standard Card-
Lok series counterparts, it offers enhanced clamp force and thermal management.
The Positive Retraction Card-Lok is manufactured in an AS9100-certified San Diego, California facility and meets rigorous VITA (46, 48.2, 48.4, 48.5, and 48.8) and SOSA standards. It complies with DFARS, JOSCAR, and ITAR requirements and exceeds advanced shock and vibration resistance specifications.
nVent nvent.com
February 2025COT’S PICKS
Elma’s Robust 7-slot SOSA Aligned Backplane Equipped with VITA 62 PSU Slot
High-speed signals on all data paths; cutting-edge interconnect technology.
Elma Electronic has enhanced its line of SOSA-aligned backplanes to include a 7-slot 3U OpenVPX model that further supports the DOD’s Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) mandate.
Combined with six VITA 65 slots and one VITA 62 PSU slot, the new backplane helps develop a typical
Blighter Transforms Smart Radar-C2 System Integration with AI-assisted BlighterNexus Hub
Blighter, a pioneering designer and manufacturer of ground-based electronic scanning radars for border and coastal security, has unveiled BlighterNexus, an AI-assisted connectivity and processing hub.
BlighterNexus is designed to drastically reduce the training and operational burden on systems integrators seeking to incorporate Blighter’s smart/ cognitive ITAR-free 2D, 3D, and 4D radars into their command and control (C2) systems.
According to the company, customers and integrators can achieve cost savings of up to 20 percent by using AI-assisted software to automate the setup,
architecture across critical C5ISR and EW systems. Specific application functions include mission, weapons or navigation control, surveillance, threat detection, and processes or environmental monitoring.
For CMOSS and RF applications, the new backplane features three payload slots and PNT support across all slots. All control and data plane links are designed for 25 Gbps data rates for high-speed signaling on all data paths and support dual domain Ethernet up to 100GBASE-KR4.
The full-featured backplane offers cutting-edge
configuration, and adjustment of multiple radars to deliver optimum performance even in changing weather conditions.
Mark Radford, co-founder and chief technology officer (CTO) at Blighter, says: “BlighterNexus is a groundbreaking product that will simplify radar to C2 system integration. We aim to become the integrator’s friend by providing a modular, scalable, and upgradeable platform that will be simple to integrate and operate and optimize target detection capabilities while reducing our customers’ training and operational costs.”
The BlighterNexus AI-assisted Hub comprises around thirty different licensable ‘service,’ ‘sensor-connector,’ ‘C2-connector’, and ‘application’ modules. For example, in addition to the automation functions, there are sensor connector modules to allow low-latency integration of cameras, radio direc-
VITA 67.3 interconnect technology, with VITA 66 and VITA 67 connector modules installed in the backplane apertures upon request.
This 6+1 backplane supports several critical features, including a radial slot card for precision timing and synchronization, VITA 48.2 2-Level Maintenance (2LM), and VITA 62 PSU isolation fins for high-altitude applications.
Elma elma.com
tion finding (RDF) equipment for drone detection, and other geo sensors to provide integrators with an all-in-one detect-track-identify capability.
BlighterNexus also features a module to securely record all sensor data for real-time playback and/ or post-mission/forensic analysis and an AI system for target classification. For integrators who want to fuse and cognitively assess data from multiple sensors, a Fat-Pipe module allows all radar data to be flooded out of BlighterNexus into an external AI system if preferred.
“Our patented electronic-scanning radars are already deployed in over 40 countries to protect national borders, ports, harbors, and critical infrastructure sites,” says Mark Radford. “The launch of BlighterNexus consolidates our position as the radar supplier of choice for integrators wanting to create layered multi-sensor surveillance systems to detect, track, and classify small and slow-moving threats in complex environments.”
BlighterNexus comes pre-installed on an industrial PC to simplify setup and allow flexible licensing and through-life support. The BlighterNexus Hub provides a unified 360-degree radar feed to the C2 system or additional BlighterNexus Hubs.
The UK Ministry of Defence trusts blighter radars for forward operating base (FOB) protection, the South Korean Army for border surveillance along the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), the United States Air Force for drone detection, and the UK’s major airports for perimeter protection. Blighter radars feature Low-Probability-of-Intercept (LPI) waveforms and are designed for rugged operation at fixed and mobile locations and on the move.
Blighter blighter.com
February 2025COT’S PICKS
OnLogic Unlocks On-site AI for Businesses of Any Size With New Edge Server
The OnLogic Axial AX300 Edge Server will help businesses accelerate AI deployments, improve efficiency, and reduce cloud computing costs by moving compute resources on-premises.
OnLogic has launched the Axial AX300, a highly customizable and powerful edge server. The AX300 is engineered to help businesses of any size better leverage their on-site data and unlock the potential of AI by placing powerful computing capabilities onsite.
The Axial AX300 empowers organizations to seamlessly move computing resources closer to the data source, providing significant advantages in performance, latency, operational efficiency, and total cost of ownership over cloud-based data management. With its robust design, flexible configuration options, and advanced security features, the Axial AX300 is the ideal platform for a wide range of highly impactful edge computing applications, including:
• AI/ML inference and training: Leveraging the power of AI/ML at the edge for real-time insights, predictive maintenance, and improved decision-making.
• Data analytics: Processing and analyzing data generated by IoT devices and sensors in real time to
improve operational efficiency.
• Virtualization: Consolidating multiple workloads onto a single server, optimizing resource utilization, and simplifying deployment and management.
“The Axial AX300 empowers organizations of all sizes to unlock the true potential of edge computing,” said Hunter Golden, Senior Product Manager at OnLogic. “By bringing compute resources closer to the data source, the AX300 reduces latency and opens up new possibilities for on-site applications, all while offering significant cost savings compared to cloud-based solutions. We’re excited to see how the AX300 will help enable unprecedented performance, efficiency, and insight, transforming businesses’ operations and innovation.”
Powerful and Configurable
Powered by up to two 5th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors, the Axial AX300 delivers exceptional performance for demanding workloads. Explicitly designed for AI, these processors provide up to 14x the AI training and inference capabilities when compared to 3rd Gen Xeon CPUs.
The Axial AX300 can be configured to meet specific project requirements with up to 7x single-slot or 4x dual-slot GPUs, enabling up to 5864 TOPS of AI performance. In addition, a wide range of memory and storage options are available, accommodating a
host of data management and analytics needs.
Secure Platform
Built-in security features such as locking front bezels, rear port-blocking attachments, and FIPS security level 1 and 2 compliance help protect valuable on-site data from tampering or intrusion. Onboard Intel Trust Domain Extensions (Intel TDX) offer increased confidentiality at the virtual machine (VM) level, while Intel Software Guard Extensions (Intel SGX) provide what Intel calls the most researched, updated, and comprehensive confidential computing technology in data centers on the market today.
Purpose-built for the Edge
The network’s edge commonly lives outside standard office spaces, so the Axial AX300 was engineered to thrive where data-center servers might struggle. Advanced dust filtration, hot-swappable fans, and robust thermal management help to ensure maximum availability.
The Axial AX300’s shallow-depth 3U form factor allows versatile installation in component racks. The system can also be installed in a tower orientation or wall-mounted. A license-free BMC enables remote monitoring and simplifies server management and maintenance.
AI-Based Automated Response at the Edge Improves Drone Mission Safety and Performance.
Teledyne FLIR OEM announced the release of Prism™ Supervisor, the latest addition to its Prism-embedded software ecosystem. Prism Supervisor integrates drone autopilot flight control systems with real-time, AI-based observations at the edge to improve mission safety, efficiency, and performance, enhancing the capabilities of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).
Prism Supervisor software empowers mission planners with a flexible programming framework and software development kit (SDK) to facilitate custom, intricate mission scenarios. During flight, Prism Supervisor adapts its autopilot functionality in real-time, dynamically generating mission segments
Inelco Hunter announces New Accessories for i.MX8Mmini Systems
Inelco Hunter, the UK franchised distributor for SoMLabs, is pleased to announce the availability
and flight plans on the fly, minimizing operator impact while improving mission success.
For example, a Prism Supervisor-controlled UAV flying a search mission pattern can autonomously circle and alert the operator upon detecting a human or threat.
“From behavior and mission planning to dynamically adjusting in-flight operations, Prism Supervisor represents a significant advancement for drone autonomy through AI,” said Dan Walker, Vice President of Product Management at Teledyne FLIR. “It improves operational performance via single-click missions, opening up new possibilities for UAS operation from commercial to military use cases.”
Prism Supervisor simplifies the operator experience with a user-friendly graphic user interface (GUI) for mission planning, real-time mission visualization,
of two new accessory modules designed for use with systems based on the i.MX8Mmini MPU. These new additions enhance the capabilities of the compact and powerful VisionSOM-8Mmini boards, offering customers flexible and cost-effective solutions for industrial IoT and embedded applications.
and execution. Available for desktop or mobile deployment supporting Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS, and Android, the supervised mission management application streams and records detailed, full-framerate video, path visualization, and metadata. It can facilitate collaborative behaviors and synchronized mission execution among multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Prism Supervisor expands Teledyne FLIR’s Prism digital ecosystem of advanced AI and image processing. It provides a platform for deploying object detection, tracking, and computational imaging on low-power processors, enhancing UAS mission performance and reducing development costs.
Teledyne FLIR flir.com
The OV5640 camera module provides a 5MP resolution and features a MIPI-CSI interface, integrated PMIC, and an OV5640 CMOS color video sensor. It also includes a fish-eye lens for wide-angle imaging. Fully compatible with all SoMLabs carrier boards equipped with an MIPI-CSI interface, this module offers an ideal solution for embedded vision applications in robotics, factory automation, and machine vision industries.
The SL-ADP-PCIe-M2 SSD adapter is designed to support M.2 SSDs in 2242, 2260, and 2280 sizes using a single-lane PCIe interface. Thus, it enables users to easily expand the storage capabilities of their embedded systems, making it perfect for applications requiring high-speed data storage.
These accessories complement the VisionSOM-8Mmini boards, which feature an NXP ARM Cortex-A53 quad-core processor with speeds of up to 1.8GHz and an ARM Cortex-M4F core for real-time control. The system also supports up to 4GB of LPDDR4 memory and 32GB of eMMC/uSD storage and includes a built-in VPU for HD video processing. The MIPI-DSI interface (FullHD, 4-lane), PCIe 2.0 interface, and 1Gbit Ethernet make it an ideal solution for various industrial TFT, IoT, and embedded applications.
