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September 2026, Volume 28 - Number 9 cotsjournalonline.com

The Journal of Military Electronics & Computing

RIVETS OR WELDS?

TODAY’S DEFENSE INDUSTY COUNTERING LOWFLYING AND ONE-WAY ATTACK DRONES TO EFFECTIVELY FUTURE-PROOF TECHNOLOGY, AGENCIES MUST LOOK TO THE MISSION

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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 the 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.

SPECIAL FEATURE 18

Countering Low-Flying and One-way Attack Drones by Reducing Ground Clutter Reflections and Radar Radio Multipath Fading By Mark Radford, Chief Technology Officer, Blighter Surveillance Systems

SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT 22

DEPARTMENTS 6

Publisher’s Note

The Inside Track

Rivets Or Welds? Today’s Defense Industrial Base Must Relearn The Hard-Earned Lessons Of Speed Over Quality. By Chris Morton, Vice President, Industries, IFS

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS 26

To Effectively Future-Proof Technology, Agencies Must Look to the Mission. By Michael Collett, Executive Director, Business Development (DOJ)

COT’S PICKS 30

Editor’s Choice for September

Cover Image:

Assault Rehearsal U.S. soldiers rehearse tactics alongside Indian soldiers during Exercise Yudh Abhyas 2026, near Auli, India, Sept. 21, 2026. The training prepared forces from both nations for a combined air assault, integrating U.S. and Indian army planning into a single approach.

Credit: Army 2nd Lt. Hannah Allebaugh

COTS Journal | September 2026

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COTS Journal | September 2026

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PUBLISHER’S NOTE By Chad Steelberg, Founder & CEO, Tiberius Aerospace

THE WEAPON IS THE SYSTEM THAT BUILDS IT

The weapon is not merely the round, missile, drone, or platform. The weapon is the system capable of conceiving it, engineering it, proving it, producing it, fielding it, learning from it and improving it—again and again, faster than the threat can adapt. Engineers are part of the weapon. Digital models are part of the weapon. Prototype shops and test ranges are part of the weapon. So are the qualification evidence, software, suppliers, production capacity, operational data, and legal authorities that allow a capability to move from an idea into the hands of a warfighter. The factory matters. But it is only one node in a much larger system. For most of the past three decades, military power was measured by what a nation had already built. Deterrence was largely a matter of inventory: how many rounds, interceptors, and platforms were sitting in storage, ready for the day they might be needed. Stockpiles remain essential. But this decade's wars have exposed the limits of treating inventory as the ultimate measure of readiness. Inventory is a snapshot. Industrial agility is a rate. The decisive question is not simply what a nation possesses on the first day of a conflict. It is what that nation can replace, reconfigure, and improve by the 30th, 100th, and 1,000th day. An adversary is deterred not only by the weapons it can count, but by the capability it cannot easily calculate: how quickly an allied industrial system can respond after the first salvo, route around a disrupted supplier, answer a new countermeasure, and return an improved system to the fight. The West does not have a defense-spending problem. It has a conversion problem. The money is arriving. The technology exists. The demand is undeniable. Yet between an appropriation and a battlefield effect sits an industrial archi-

COTS Journal | September 2026

tecture that still takes too long to turn capital into capability. Capital is not capability. A contract is not capability. A prototype is not capability. Capability is something tested, qualified, fielded, replenishable—and continuously improving. At the 2025 Hague Summit, NATO allies committed to invest 5 percent of GDP in defense and security by 2035, including substantial investments in military capability, infrastructure, resilience and the defense industrial base. It was a historic commitment. But spending commitments do not automatically become military power. The strategic challenge is converting those resources into actual fielded capability. NATO itself now recognizes that industrial capacity is not an administrative function beneath deterrence. It is part of deterrence. Pouring more money into the same architecture can increase order books without increasing military output at the speed the threat requires. A 20th-century development and production model does not become a 21st-century one merely because it receives a larger budget. Ukraine has demonstrated the alternative under the most unforgiving conditions. Its most important lesson is not simply that inexpensive systems can defeat expensive ones. It is that battlefield advantage increasingly belongs to the side with the shortest learning cycle. Operational feedback reaches engineers. Engineers revise the design. Prototypes are built and tested. Qualified manufacturers incorporate the change. The improved capability returns to the field. New operational data comes back—and the cycle begins again. Ukraine is not simply procuring faster. It has built an ecosystem that learns faster.

Admiral Pierre Vandier, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, has expressed the strategic principle plainly: "Our advantage lies in our ability to adapt faster than our adversaries." His emphasis is not innovation theater. It is testing what exists, learning quickly, integrating what works, and turning that learning into usable capability. That is the real competition. Winning tomorrow’s conflicts will depend less on who builds the best weapon once than on who can improve it the fastest. The software industry developed CI/CD, continuous integration and continuous delivery, to replace large, infrequent releases with a persistent cycle of development, testing, deployment, and learning. Defense needs its own, more demanding version of CI/CD: Continuous Innovation. Continuous Deployment. Continuous Innovation means that a fielded system is never treated as finished. It becomes the baseline for the next improvement. Operational data flows back into engineering. New sensors, materials, software, seekers, payloads, and manufacturing methods can be evaluated against an existing configuration instead of forcing the program to begin again. Continuous deployment means those improvements do not remain trapped in a laboratory, a demonstration or a briefing. They move through testing, certification, authorization and production into fielded service—safely, repeatedly and at the speed of relevance. This is not reckless iteration. A weapon is not a smartphone application. But neither is it a museum piece. Defense cannot adopt Silicon Valley's "move fast and break things" culture. National security demands independent testing, configuration control, cybersecurity, export authorization, sovereign authority, and proof that a system will perform in the mission environment. The answer is not to move slowly. It is to move fast and prove things. Every material claim must survive physics, manufacturing, and the mission environment. The objective is a governed engineering cycle in which evidence moves as quickly and reliably as the technology itself. Rigor remains non-negotiable, but rigor can no longer become an excuse for immobility. Today, defense development, testing, procurement, and manufacturing are too often treated as separate processes managed by separate organizations, separate data systems, and separate economic incentives. Requirements are frozen. Engineering data becomes fragmented. Qualification evidence is difficult to reuse. Production is concentrated. Operational feedback arrives late, if it arrives at all. That is not a learning system. It is a series of handoffs. The alternative is a governed digital thread connecting operational requirements, engineering models, software, bills of material, test results, suppliers, manufacturing plans, configuration records, export authorizations, and field-performance data. When a component improves, you can measure it against a known baseline and introduce it through controlled requalification. When one supplier fails, another qualified source can be activated. When a battlefield requirement changes, the response can begin in the engineering cycle rather than the next decade's budget cycle. The system becomes a closed loop: Operational need becomes engineering action. Engineering action becomes a tested prototype. A tested prototype becomes a qualified design. A qualified design becomes distributed production. Production becomes fielded capability. Fielded performance becomes evidence for the next improvement. Then the loop closes again—faster. This also requires separating design authority from fabrication. The organization responsible for the system must preserve intellectual property, configuration control, and the continuous engineering baseline. But fabrication should be able to move across a federated network of qualified manufacturers operating under controlled interfaces and common evidence. Governments gain sovereign production capacity and domestic economic value. Manufacturers compete to produce validated designs. Second sources can be activated before a crisis becomes a shortage. The design authority remains economically responsible—and economically incentivized—to improve effectiveness, availability, and affordability throughout the capability's service life.

This is not outsourcing sovereignty. It is a practical way to build it. Sovereignty should be architectural, not rhetorical. A nation is not sovereign because it assembled a product once. It is sovereign when it has enduring access to the engineering knowledge, technical evidence, skilled workforce, production capacity, and legal authority required to replenish, sustain, and improve that capability under pressure. NATO’s newly announced “Engine,” intended to connect defense companies with available manufacturing capacity across the alliance, is a meaningful step in this direction. Secretary General Mark Rutte has correctly observed that “no single nation has the industrial capacity” to meet the alliance’s growing demand. But available factory capacity alone does not create an industrial system. A network is only as powerful as the engineering standards, qualification evidence, digital infrastructure, operating authorities, and incentives connecting it. Without those elements, distributed manufacturing is simply a collection of buildings. With them, it becomes a resilient allied capability network that can learn, qualify, and scale as one. At Tiberius, this is the thinking behind Defense-as-a-Service. DaaS is not a financing construct or a subscription attached to a weapon. It is an economic and industrial model for continuously delivering capability. It combines ongoing research and development, modular engineering, sovereign licensed production, federated manufacturing, operational feedback, and controlled technology insertion within one persistent system. The objective is not to sell a product and wait for its eventual replacement. It is to maintain a strategic collaboration through which the capability becomes more effective, more producible and more affordable throughout its operational life. That changes what governments should measure. Platform counts, contract values, and factory output are not enough. Defense leaders should ask: • How long does it take to move from an operational need to a tested, fielded change? • How rapidly can an engineering team respond to a new threat or countermeasure? • How many prototype, test, and qualification cycles can be completed in a year? • How quickly can a second source be qualified? • How much can production surge without constructing an entirely new dedicated facility? • How rapidly can an allied nation establish sovereign production? • How much more effective and affordable does a system become after deployment? • And what is its actual cost per effect—not simply its unit price? These are not secondary industrial metrics. They are measures of military readiness. The lowest-priced weapon is not economical if it cannot be replenished, upgraded, or produced at scale. The most sophisticated platform is not strategically superior if the threat can adapt faster than the system behind it. A single breakthrough technology, a single company, or a single factory will not define the future of defense. It will be defined by the speed and integrity of the entire capability loop—from operational need to proven effect and back again. Stockpiles will matter. Engineers will matter. Test ranges, suppliers and production capacity will matter. But the decisive advantage will belong to the allied system that can continuously innovate, deploy, and learn—faster than its adversaries can adapt. The weapon is no longer just the object delivered to the battlefield. The weapon is the system that builds, proves, fields, and improves it. Chad Steelberg is the founder and CEO of Tiberius Aerospace, a defense technology company developing precision-strike systems and digital industrial infrastructure under a sovereign, licensed Defense-as-a-Service model. He previously founded and served as CEO / Chairman of AdForce (IPO 1999), dMarc (acquired by Google 2006), and Veritone (IPO 2017).

COTS Journal | September 2026

The

Inside Track SPARC AI Launches Overwatch Patrol at MSPO in Poland SPARC AI Inc., a defense technology company delivering positioning in GPS-denied environments, is pleased to announce the launch of Overwatch Patrol. This dismounted positioning application delivers continuous location to soldiers and security personnel in environments where GPS is jammed, spoofed, degraded, or simply unavailable. Overwatch Patrol was unveiled at MSPO, the International Defense Industry Exhibition in Kielce, Poland, one of Europe's largest defense exhibitions and a focal point for NATO and allied procurement at a time when persistent GNSS interference across Eastern Europe and the Baltic region has made assured positioning a frontline requirement rather than a contingency. Ahead of the exhibition, the SPARC AI team demonstrated the application in Kraków, Poland. No software to install, no additional hardware, no external receiver, and no antenna. The solution was initially designed for navigation on military-grade phones. The new version now sits on the Overwatch Positioning Network, SPARC AI's cloud-based positioning service, and can

Everfox Content Cyber Threat Protection Solution Now Available Through GSA’s OneGov Portal Collaboration with immixGroup will Help Simplify and Accelerate Federal Cybersecurity

be delivered to any mobile device either as a native application or through a standard web browser. Overwatch Patrol now also allows multiple users to share their live positions within the application. As each team member walks, runs, or holds position, every other member sees them move on the map in real time, with no GPS. Teams are formed on the ground using a dynamic code generated by the group's commander, and members can join or leave without a central administrator or pre-configured devices. Knowing where friendly elements are is the foundation of every dismounted operation, and it is the first thing lost when satellite positioning is denied. Overwatch Patrol keeps that shared picture together without a satellite signal. Another new feature lets any team member drop a rally point on the map, which is shared immediately with the rest of the team so each member can navigate to it independently from wherever they are. Rally points are a fundamental of dismounted operations and are traditionally briefed from a map before a patrol departs, then passed by voice if circumstances change. Making the rally point a live, shared object means a commander can designate a new linkup point in the moment after contact, during a casualty evacuation, or

when a route becomes untenable, and every member can converge on it even if they are separated, out of visual contact, or beyond radio range. The SPARC AI management team held meetings at MSPO with prospective technology partners, including discussions about integrating Overwatch Patrol with tactical radio network providers to extend shared position data to soldiers operating across existing communications infrastructure.

Procurement. Everfox, the global defense technology company delivering high-assurance cybersecurity solutions for mission-critical environments, today announced that its Content Disarm and Reconstruction (CDR) Application Programming Interface (API) is now available to federal agency developers via the General Services Administration’s (GSA) OneGov Initiative as an Application eXtension (AX) API CDR-as-a-Service (CDRaaS). GSA’s OneGov leverages the federal Government's collective purchasing power to secure significant agency discounts on IT software while ensuring consistent security standards and simplified access. Participating in the OneGov Initiative will enable agencies to more easily obtain Everfox’s AX API CDRaaS and integrate it into work-

flows and applications to ensure that content and data handled by portals, workflows, and web applications are threat-free. “Everfox is pleased to join the GSA’s OneGov Initiative to make our CDR API solution easily available to agencies so they can remove zero-day malware, steganography, and known and unknown threats from files, and operate with confidence,” said Matt Peeples, Vice President of Capture Management at Everfox. Together with distribution partner immixGroup, Everfox is bringing its CDR API solution to federal agencies through the GSA IT Vendor Management Office, making it easier for agencies to procure and deploy advanced cybersecurity capabilities. The collaborative effort is focused on simplifying the purchasing process, reducing administrative burden, and supporting mission-critical innovation.

COTS Journal | September 2026

The

Inside Track Eutelsat and Skynopy partner to develop Global AKAR, one of the largest software-defined global ground networks for satellite services. The partnership combines Eutelsat's global ground infrastructure with Skynopy's software-defined orchestration technologies to offer the largest data download ground service for Low Earth Orbit satellites. At the International Space Summit hosted by the President of the French Republic, Eutelsat and Skynopy announced the signing of a partnership establishing Global AKAR, a strategic partnership to develop one of the largest software-defined ground infrastructures for current and future satellite services, including Earth Observation, In-orbit services, orbital data centers and various telecommunication services. By combining Eutelsat's global footprint with Skynopy's software technologies and commercial traction, the partnership aims to build on existing infrastructure to create a resilient, scalable, software-defined network capable of delivering near-real-time connectivity for Low Earth Orbit services. Skynopy has developed proprietary orchestration software and virtualized modem technology that can leverage existing ground antennas and give satellite operators a single interface to access them since their creation, with 17 sites operating to serve several dozen satellites. This partnership brings the service to a larger scale: it will enable selected Eutelsat ground station sites to serve a broader range of satellite operators and applications, while continuing to support Eutelsat's own networks and customers. Global AKAR aims to leverage Eutelsat's global network of ground stations to create a data backbone for multi-mission constellations (Earth Observation, Orbital data centers, in-orbit services) in S, X, and Ka bands. The partnership is set to deploy more than 100 operational antennas at select sites by the end of 2029, enabling nearreal-time, very high-throughput service for

the fast-growing Low Earth Orbit (LEO) services market. The service is designed to significantly reduce data latency (less than 3 min compared to the current state of the art around 1 hour) while delivering up to 10 Gbps throughput through a software-defined ground network (compared to the current state of the art of 1-2 Gbps). The program builds on the initial phase,

segment, combining cloud-native technologies, expertise in Earth Observation radiofrequency systems, and strong commercial traction, demonstrated over the past year by delivering demanding ground station service to players like Airbus Defense and Space and many international NewSpace satellite operators. Together, they combine global operational scale with software in-

already underway and partially supported by the French Government, which successfully demonstrated the concept's technical feasibility through a three-antenna proof of concept for Earth Observation. The same infrastructure is designed to support a new generation of in-orbit services, enabling satellites to transfer data more efficiently and interact with in-orbit computing capabilities through secure, high-capacity, high-throughput connectivity. Eutelsat brings sites from its globally distributed network of ground stations, nearly five decades of satellite operations expertise, and trusted relationships with institutional and commercial customers worldwide. Skynopy brings a new approach to the ground

novation to accelerate the deployment of strategic gateway infrastructure to serve the booming Low Earth Orbit economy. Global AKAR customers will benefit from access to a secure, high-capacity, globally distributed network without building and operating their own ground systems. The Global AKAR service is designed to support commercial constellations by reducing data latency and increasing network flexibility, while its secure architecture and interfaces will also make it suitable for defense and other sensitive applications. The ground segment, long the forgotten pillar of space, is now becoming its central piece — and AKAR, "root" in Malay, is the response to that ambition.

COTS Journal | September 2026

The

Inside Track KONGSBERG Selects Echodyne MESA Radar for Counter-UAS Weapon Systems Low-SWaP, precision-tracking radar integrated with PROTECTOR RS4 and RS6 remote weapon stations to strengthen detection-to-defeat performance against drones Echodyne, the radar platform company, announced that KONGSBERG has selected Echodyne's MESA® radar platform for a range of air and surface applications. Among the first use cases, KONGSBERG has integrated MESA radar into the PROTECTOR RS4 and PROTECTOR RS6 remote weapon stations (RWS), adding the precision radar data needed to turn the world's most widely deployed RWS family into a highly effective counter-unmanned aircraft system (C-UAS) effector. The selection pairs KONGSBERG's proven weapon-station architecture and Collaborative Fire Control capabilities with Echodyne's compact, solid-state radar. The result is a scalable approach to adding high-fidelity detection, tracking, and targeting data to static, crewed, and uncrewed platforms without the size, weight, and power demands traditionally associated with high-performance electronically scanned array radar. "KONGSBERG has set the standard for remote weapon systems through decades of

MARTAC Completes First-Ever Fully Autonomous Unmanned Surface Vessel Refueling At Sea in Collaboration with US Navy Breakthrough 7-month concept-to-water demonstration: unlimited USV on-station time, extended reach, distributed maritime operations for the US Navy and Allies Maritime Tactical Systems, Inc. announced it successfully refueled a USV at sea. A joint Navy-industry team achieved the fuel transfer using a specially designed Sealartec™ Autonomous Replenishment at Sea (A-RAS) refueling system deployed from the stern of a surrogate platform. The A-RAS transferred fuel to a MARTAC Devil Ray® T38 owned by the Naval Air Systems Command Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD)

field experience, disciplined engineering and close collaboration with operators," said Eben Frankenberg, CEO of Echodyne. "Integrating MESA radar gives the PROTECTOR family the precise, stable and persistent tracks needed to cue the fire-control system, sustain target lock and act decisively against fast-moving, low-signature drone threats. Just as important, MESA delivers that performance in a compact, software-defined package that can scale across a large installed base and adapt as the threat evolves." Precision radar data for the fire-control chain Radar track quality is fundamental to effective fire control. Echodyne's low-SWaP MESA radar supplies high-fidelity range, range-rate, bearing, and kinematic data while maintaining the track stability and persistence needed to compute and execute a firing solution. By stabilizing and cueing the optical fire-control system onto a target, the radar helps the weapon station hold lock longer, shorten the detection-to-engagement timeline, and improve hit probability against agile, low-radarcross-section threats. That precision matters most when PROTECTOR systems employ programmable airburst munitions. Accurate range and range-rate measurements support the timing needed to place the munition's effect at the correct point in the target's flight path. In networked operations, a cooperative search ra-

Blue Water Instrumentation (BWI) program. The demonstration was achieved within seven months of the concept's first development and delivered on a timeline conventional development and contracting paths do not produce. MARTAC, NAWCWD's BWI program and Sealartec worked as a single integrated team, backed by contracting authorities built for speed. During the August demonstration in waters off Joint Expeditionary Base Little CreekFort Story, Virginia, a Navy-owned MARTAC Devil Ray® T38 was repeatedly captured, refueled, and released while underway using Sealartec’s towable capture and connection device (TCCD), a robotic refueling system towed astern of the training support vessel USNS Vindicator (TSV 5). The team ran dozens of full-cycle capture, refuel, and release evolutions as well as pier-side events, and trans-

COTS Journal | September 2026

dar or another sensor can pass a threat track to the radar-equipped RWS; the local MESA radar then refines and sustains the track for fire-control use. This search-cue-track-engage workflow allows distributed systems to share the air picture, assign targets and rapidly retarget as threats are defeated. Validated through a multi-year field program Echodyne and KONGSBERG have spent multiple years integrating, testing, and demonstrating the radar-enabled solution, in keeping with KONGSBERG's philosophy of proving capability in the field. Beyond the various PROTECTOR integrations, Echodyne and KONGSBERG are exploring additional uses for high-performance radar across air and surface missions within the KONGSBERG portfolio. The companies expect to continue joint technical work focused on resilient sensing, networked fire control and scalable protection against rapidly evolving threats.

ferred a total of 400 gallons of fuel. In the days leading up to and including the demonstration, the system completed approximately 100 connection cycles. Following extensive market research, NAWCWD selected the Devil Ray T38 for its stability and endurance. The T38’s patented catamaran hull form provides both the steady sensor platform BWI needs for range instrumentation and the precise alignment the TCCD requires to capture and connect. That stability is what made repeated underway refueling achievable. U.S. Fleet Forces Command, Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division, and Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division sponsored the demonstration, which brought together BWI, BWI's Future Capabilities Office fleet management team, MARTAC, and Sealartec. The Littoral Combat Ship Mission

The

Inside Track Modules Program Office (PMS 420) and the Navy's Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Robotics and Autonomous Systems provided the contracting support that let BWI partner directly with both companies. MARTAC delivered on the timeline in part because its Naval Sea Systems Command Production Other Transaction Authority (P-OTA) compressed seven months of development into demonstrated capability. “Working directly with our industry partners allowed us to bring the platform, control systems, operators, and engineers together as one integrated team. We could make changes, test them on the water, and iterate quickly based on what we observed,” said Spencer Holloway, director of BWI’s Future Capabilities Office. “At industry conferences, we hear a lot of talk about how defense organizations want to adapt to the rapid pace of technology by streamlining procurement and operating more like agile startups,” said Amitai Peleg, CEO of Sealartec. “BWI didn’t just talk about that mindset; they demonstrated it.” Karl Van Deusen, MARTAC’s Senior Vice President for Federal Business Development & Government Relations, credited the government team and Sealartec for the outcome. "Testing together in an operational environment

allowed the team to identify improvements, apply lessons learned and refine future concepts of operation for unmanned maritime systems," Van Deusen said. "MARTAC's contractual relationship with BWI is a model for how industry and Government can learn and iterate together at speed. Our hats are off to Spencer Holloway and his team." Every time an unmanned vessel has to return to port for fuel, the fleet loses coverage. At-sea refueling breaks that constraint, converting the USV from a sortie-limited asset into a persistent one, and extending the reach of distributed maritime operations without adding crewed support ships or putting sailors into higher-threat waters. The next step in advancing the autonomous refueling capability is refueling across

distance. Seamus Flatley, MARTAC’s Chief Growth Officer and a former naval aviator, explained that utilizing airborne tankers to refuel strike fighter aircraft launching from an aircraft carrier extends the range and endurance of the carrier strike group’s air wing. He noted that “applying this same type of capability to lengthen the range and endurance of unmanned platforms extends the reach and lethality of a hybrid fleet.” To that end, MARTAC’s Leviathan T82, scheduled for delivery in Spring 2027, is being developed as a mid-size workboat, with a cruising range of 4,000 nautical miles, to act as a tanker on the seas, providing autonomous USV-to-USV refueling for all properly configured USVs.

Owl Cyber Defense's V2CDS v2.1 Achieves US Government Cross Domain Solution Certification, Adds DFDL-Based Structured Data Support.

US government and defense use. V2CDS gives defense and intelligence users a single platform certified for secure, real-time voice-over-IP (VoIP), video teleconferencing (VTC), full-motion video (FMV), streaming audio, and structured data exchange across security boundaries. V2CDS's structured data capability is built on Apache NiFi for flow orchestration paired with DFDL-based schema parsing, giving customers a self-customizable path to structured data transfer support that can evolve with mission needs on their own terms. Consolidating these capabilities onto a single certified platform means mission teams can achieve real-time collaboration with voice, audio, video, and data according to their unique mission requirements. This capability expedites decision-making across classification levels by arming warfighters and artificial intelligence (AI)-based systems with secure connections and data at the speed of mission. "This milestone reflects Owl's continued commitment to setting the industry standard for cross-domain collaboration," said Tim Fahl, Owl's Chief Technology

Officer. "Structured data based on DFDL's open, vendor-neutral standard means agencies can control data without vendor lock-in, giving them the freedom to evolve their data architecture on their own terms rather than a supplier's roadmap." V2CDS 2.1 brings a mission-tested track record of adaptability, deployable on a variety of commercial-off-the-shelf hardware, from enterprise servers to low-SWaP rugged hardware, anywhere the mission demands. V2CDS also integrates with existing VoIP and VTC infrastructure, so operators can add certified cross-domain capability without ripping and replacing what is already installed. US Government certification means V2CDS has already cleared the toughest cross-domain bar, giving operators a validated foundation for their own Authority to Operate instead of a blank page.

Solution expedites decision-making across classification levels through highly secure, real-time collaboration using voice, audio, video, and structured data. Owl Cyber Defense® announced that its V2CDS Cross Domain Solution (CDS) has completed the National Cross Domain Strategy and Management Office (NCDSMO) LabBased Security Assessment process, achieving certification against the assessment's standards for the solution's new Data Format Description Language (DFDL)-based structured data capability. This extends the V2CDS certification already held for voice, audio, and video. NCDSMO certification ensures a CDS meets stringent security and operational standards required for

COTS Journal | September 2026

The

Inside Track Industrial Workforce Capacity Gap Being Filled By Agentic Digital Workers In Aerospace And Defense. Key findings • Top three agentic AI use cases for aerospace and defense – resource/schedule planning, project knowledge management, and sourcing/subcontracting • 77% of decision-makers have delayed or avoided a strategic initiative because their team lacked the capacity to pursue it • Digital workers adoption is accelerating: two businesses are investing in digital workers over the next 12 months for every one that isn’t • Trust, not technology, is the holdup. Just 5.7% of decision-makers trust AI to act fully autonomously, even though 66% say they're likely to invest in digital workers within the year. IFS, the leading provider of Industrial AI software, finds that industrial workers lose 41% of their time to manual, repetitive tasks, creating a capacity gap across organizations. New research from The Futurum Group shows companies are closing that gap with a sharp shift toward agentic, AI-powered digital

workers—AI agents that autonomously monitor, decide, and execute operational tasks, escalating to humans only when judgment is required. The capacity gap – the widening distance between the work industrial organizations need to do and the actual capacity of their teams – is becoming increasingly costly for businesses to ignore. A workforce change is also already underway, and hitting industrial organizations hardest: experienced engineers and operators are retiring across factories, utilities, and supply chains. Industrial companies want to address the capacity gap with new technologies but hesitate to trust automation fully. The research underscores the need for human-in-the-loop AI deployment models, where digital workers handle high-volume, well-defined tasks while people make judgment calls. The IFS Loops Agentic Platform delivers digital workers precisely when industries need them. The platform enables enterprises to create and deploy digital workers that automate 60% of agentic transactions end to end. The remaining 40% include human review and approval checkpoints, reflecting industrial customers' desire for transparency and validation. IFS customers across sectors are already running purpose-built digital workers in production. Several customers, including Kitron Group and KLN Family Brands, are using

COTS Journal | September 2026

digital workers to reclaim dozens of hours a week on core procurement and order-to-pay workflows, with several pushing toward fully automated processing with no manual intervention. Manufacturer Kitron Group is rolling out purchase-to-order digital workers across all 13 of its sites by the end of 2026, built directly into the software the business already uses. This meant that the guardrails and rules the business had already set up were followed, and the existing approvals process stayed intact. During this rollout, a digital worker surfaced a decade-old part-number error that a manual process had missed for years, showing that digital workers can find and fix data problems as they run, instead of requiring a data cleanup project before deployment. Somya Kapoor, CEO of IFS Loops, said: "The capacity gap is a high-stakes problem in industrial operations. When a purchase order, a maintenance schedule, or a supplier delivery falls behind because workers don't have enough hours in the day, the cost shows up as downtime, missed deliveries, or idle equipment. Closing it takes more than general-purpose AI. Digital workers built for the job, integrated into the systems already running the business, let teams reclaim capacity instead of working around the shortfall. Our customers prove that model in production, not pilots."

The

Inside Track TUSK IC Raises €15M in Funding to Democratize Satellite Communications A new orbit for SatCom as Series A funding propels TUSK IC's mission to make high-performance Ka-band satellite technology more scalable, affordable and accessible. TUSK IC, a spin-out of KU Leuven and developer of CMOS ICs for the automotive, industrial and SatCom segments, today announced the successful closing of its Series A funding round. This funding accelerates the commercialization of the world's first Standard CMOS-based Beamformer ICs for Ka-band SatCom. TUSK’s Beamformers are a key building block of Flat Panel Antennas (FPAs), and enable a lower-cost, lower-power al-

ternative to the SiGe and Specialty CMOS technologies used in SatCom user terminals today. Ka-band communication is particularly attractive as it enables fast, high-capacity SatCom data links. In combination with mainstream CMOS semiconductor technology, the TUSK IC solution brings scalable, affordable connectivity to the next generation of LEO and MEO (Low & Medium Earth Orbit) satellite constellations. Matterwave Ventures, FORWARD.one, and Flanders Future Tech Fund, managed by PMV, lead the investment round, with participation from the Schaubroeck family and continued support from current investors. Together, they underscore strong confidence from experienced investors with a proven track record in SatCom and semiconductor ventures. Earlier this year, TUSK IC announced it had been awarded a new contract by the European Space Agency (ESA), with support from BELSPO. The contract is funded under the Industrial Competitiveness line within ESA's Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES) program. With €15 million in funding, TUSK IC is

well-capitalized to execute its growth strategy and accelerate the commercialization of its breakthrough SatCom technology. TUSK IC is working with a leading satcom manufacturer to integrate its technology into the development of a new Electronically Steered Array antenna. “The future of connectivity will be determined not only by the constellations in orbit, but also by the technologies that make high-performance user terminals scalable and affordable on the ground. TUSK IC combines leading-edge mmWave innovation with the economics and scalability of standard CMOS, addressing a critical bottleneck in satellite communications. We believe this positions the company to underpin a more diverse and resilient space-based communications infrastructure," said Silviu Apostu, Partner at Matterwave Ventures. “By bringing the economic and manufacturing advantages of CMOS to satellite communications, TUSK IC is democratizing high-performance connectivity from space,” said Arjan Göbel, General Partner at FORWARD. one. “Its unique combination of breakthrough semiconductor technology and a scalable manufacturing approach positions the company to play an important role in the rapidly expanding global satellite communications market.”

networks to the edge, providing a modular, scalable, SWaP-friendly endpoint control and sensor node, DCU (Data Concentrator Unit), or intelligent TSN interface solution for a broad range of avionics, land, and marine applications. “Deos provides an industry-standard, open architecture, MOSA-compliant, RTOS environment that is ideal for extending real-time networking and multi-core processing to edge devices, providing a low-SWaP, low-latency, high-bandwidth, deterministic, cost-effective endpoint solution for sensor and control nodes,” said Gary Gilliland, Vice President of Marketing at DDC-I. “Ultrascale+ SoCs running Deos have a strong pedigree in both commercial and military markets, and when coupled with TSN, provide a flexible, high-performance, low-risk platform for a wide range of edge sensing and

control, from fly-by-wire flight controls and mobile machinery to sensor fusion for 360º situational awareness.” TSN is an IEEE networking standard used in automotive and industrial markets and is rapidly being adopted as a digital backbone standard for next-generation aerospace and defense systems. TSN ensures common, reliable, real-time, and low-latency data delivery across multiple platform providers. TTTECH provides 1 and 10 Gigabit TSN network IP that complies with the recently released IEEE 802.1DP TSN aerospace profile. Extending TSN from the backbone to the edge, particularly with a safety-critical RTOS like Deos, enables developers to create SWaP-friendly, standards-based edge nodes that are modular, deliver higher performance, and increase functional density. These modular nodes provide an easier path to certification and maintenance as new capabilities are added. In avionics edge applications, bringing control and high-speed networking closer to the edge significantly reduces wiring weight and harness complexity by standardizing the wiring to fewer types while TSN's higher bandwidth supports more devices per line. Overall, scaling the TSN network to smaller devices reduces size, weight, cost, and power consumption, reducing the need for intermediate data interface units.

Tusk IC Leadership Team

DDC-I Enables Safety-Critical Compute and Deterministic TSN Networking in a Single Edge Platform DDC-I, a leading supplier of software for mission and safety-critical applications, announced a new MOSA-aligned SoC platform for edge processing applications. Based on the AMD Zynq Ultrascale+ SoC, the platform combines the Deos™ DAL A, FACE®-conformant, DO-178C safety-critical RTOS with TTTECH's Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) implementation, the TSN-End Point IP Integration Kit. The combined SoC platform extends TSN backbone

COTS Journal | September 2026

The

Inside Track Dataminr Launches First Alert Advanced and Secures Landmark $318 Million Contract with the US Department of War Dataminr, the leader in AI-powered real-time intelligence, today unveiled First Alert Advanced, transforming real-time alerting from publicly available information — the category Dataminr first pioneered — into Autonomous Real-Time Intelligence for defense and government organizations. First Alert Advanced provides agentic corroboration and context, describes an event's potential impact on a customer's organization, and delivers tactical predictive intelligence—all in real time and continuously updating. Dataminr announced that it was awarded a 5-year, $318 million contract by the US Department of War (DOD) for situational awareness, force protection, and indications and warnings on global events. This First Alert program for real-time alerting from publicly available information encompasses the entire DOW enterprise, spanning the Air Force, Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Space Force, and all unified combatant and operational commands. The launch of First Alert Advanced, combined with this $318 million DOW contract award, solidifies Dataminr’s position as an AI leader in global Government and defense tech. “First Alert has long been the undisputed global leader in delivering the fastest, most comprehensive, and most accurate real-time alerts on events across the world,” said Ted Bailey, Founder and CEO of Dataminr. “Our landmark $318 million DOW contract award for First Alert solidifies Dataminr’s position as the real-time alerting backbone of the US military for the next half-decade. With today's launch of First Alert Advanced, Dataminr is now fundamentally transforming our category with Autonomous Real-Time Intelligence, equipping defense and government organizations with unmatched AI-powered real-time decision advantage." First Alert has established itself as the industry standard for real-time intelligence across the global defense and government market. The product is relied on by the militaries of 18 nations worldwide, including 15 NATO member nations—representing one of the largest international client footprints in the defense tech sector. First Alert is also relied on by over 100 government organizations across the US federal, state, and local markets, including the Department of Homeland Security, State Department, Department of Justice, Congress, and customers in 35

US states. With today’s official launch of First Alert Advanced, Dataminr will offer Autonomous Real-Time Intelligence across this global defense and government client footprint. Pre-launch First Alert Advanced customers already include NATO and nine international militaries. First Alert Advanced Capabilities Dataminr first pioneered Multi-Modal Fusion AI — synthesizing text in 150 languages, image, video, audio, and sensor signals across 1M+ public data sources — to deliver the fastest, most accurate real-time alerting. Seamlessly integrated with Dataminr’s real-time alerts, First Alert Advanced delivers four central AI-powered autonomous intelligence capabilities, all continuously and autonomously updating in real time from the moment of first event discovery. Agentic Corroboration: A fleet of Dataminr Intel Agents autonomously scans the entire publicly available information landscape for corroborating data as events unfold, from official sources to on-the-ground imagery. ReGenAI Tailored Live Briefs: Dataminr’s AI models continuously describe an event’s evolution and its potential impact on a customer’s organization as it unfolds, updating in real time. Agentic Context: A fleet of Dataminr Intel Agents autonomously scours the publicly available information landscape and Dataminr's 10+ year proprietary event archive, synthesizing user-relevant real-time event context that illuminates an unfolding event and its significance. Tactical Predictive Intelligence: Dataminr’s AI models predict potential evolutions of how an event may unfold over the coming hours based on historical event patterns in Dataminr's 10+ year event archive. Palantir Foundry Marketplace App: First Alert Advanced also includes a new native application on the Palantir Foundry Marketplace. This application synthesizes and contextualizes First Alert’s Autonomous Real-Time Intelligence with government data layers in Palantir Foundry, enabling new agentic workflows and contextual analytics. “First Alert Advanced is a giant leap forward for NATO’s real-time intelligence picture,” said Colonel Arnel David, Director of Task Force Maven at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE). “First Alert has long been the gold standard for real-time indications and warning on breaking global events. And now with First Alert Advanced and Dataminr’s Palantir Foundry application, Dataminr delivers continuously updating multi-dimensional autonomous event intelligence straight into the workflow of the warfighter.”

COTS Journal | September 2026

Unique AI Advantage: To power First Alert Advanced, Dataminr operates a constellation of more than 60 purpose-built, specialized LLMs, all trained on the company’s proprietary 10+ year archive of historical event data. Dataminr’s AI model approach delivers the speed, precision, and accuracy government customers demand from mission-critical, real-time intelligence. “Rather than relying solely on massive frontier models, with their inherent hallucinations, latency, and risk of IP loss, Dataminr orchestrates dozens of our own fine-tuned, task-specific LLMs — each trained on our proprietary 10+ year data archive to master specific elements of our intelligence creation process,” said Jeff Kinsey, Dataminr’s Co-Founder and CTO. “This AI approach gives defense and government organizations the confidence to rely on Dataminr’s Autonomous Real-Time Intelligence for high-stakes decisions.” First Alert Advanced — Additional AI Capabilities Alongside its four core capabilities, First Alert Advanced also includes new AI capabilities that significantly increase the product's value across its browser-based, mobile, and API interfaces. • Watchlist Agent: An embedded AI agent that interacts with users to create and refine watchlist settings, ensuring users receive the most relevant real-time intelligence as their missions and responsibilities evolve. • Real-Time Brief Builder: Integrated AI capability that synthesizes user-designated events into on-demand, customizable briefs for seamless real-time reporting. • Agentic Search: Agent-based historical search that identifies user intent, reasons, and effectively surfaces events most relevant to user needs. • Advanced Custom Alerts: Agentic AI capability that enhances the granularity and depth of real-time alerts for hyperlocal and hyperspecific topics of interest. Advanced API: Suite of API capabilities that delivers Autonomous Real-Time Intelligence directly into customers’ internal products and systems — augmenting alerts and intelligence with expanded metadata fields to accelerate development lifecycles and enable powerful, efficient agentic workflows.

The

Inside Track

American Rheinmetall Delivers First Lynx XM30 Combat Vehicle Prototype to US Army American Rheinmetall has successfully delivered the first of eight Lynx XM30 combat vehicle prototypes to the US Army, marking a pivotal step in the competitive program to replace the legacy M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle. Following its delivery, the initial prototype immediately enters government-led developmental and performance testing. This critical evaluation is a key component of the program's broader Phase 3/4 Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) contract valued at approximately $764 million, which encompasses digital design, physical prototyping, and full-system validation. "Delivering our prototype to the Army is an important step as the XM30 Combat Vehicle program enters a more visible phase," said Matt Warnick, CEO of American Rheinmetall. "Team Lynx now has the opportunity to show the Army that we can deliver on the promise of a modern replacement for the Bradley." Later this year, American Rheinmetall will deliver the remaining seven prototypes for operational unit training. This rollout

runs parallel to the technical evaluations as part of the Army's Transformation in Contact (TiC) 2.0 initiative, a modernization effort aimed at rapidly prototyping, testing, and fielding cutting-edge technology directly to deployed and training units. Once the vehicles clear initial military safety checks, Soldiers will immediately launch into active field maneuvers, an intensive training phase that culminates in large-scale combat simulations. “Executing a parallel evaluation timeline requires a level of industrial agility that Team Lynx was built for,” Warnick noted. “We are proving that the U.S. Defense Industrial Base can move at the speed of operational relevance, stripping years off traditional development timelines to get the right capability to the Warfighter.” The advanced prototype deliveries rely on a tightly orchestrated, multi-state production pipeline that underscores the agility and resilience of the US Defense Industrial Base. Work begins with precision turret fabrication in Plymouth, Michigan, before sub-systems transition to Slidell, Louisiana, for final hull and chassis integration. Completed vehicles then enter comprehensive automotive shakeout trials to guarantee mechanical readiness, before returning to Louisiana for final paint and detailing. Inte-

grating these facilities into a single pipeline ensures strict quality control, culminating in a joint inspection with the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) before official government acceptance. The Lynx XM30 is engineered to excel in complex operating environments that increasingly feature drones, precision weapons, and electronic warfare. In support of rapid technology integration over its service life, the platform incorporates a modular design and an adaptive open architecture. Most notably, the vehicle introduces a first-ever hybrid-electric powertrain to optimize power generation and battlefield mobility. As a digitally integrated fighting system with secure, real-time connectivity, the Lynx XM30 embeds the advanced intelligence required to ensure the crew and infantry squad maintain absolute battlefield survivability. As the prime contractor, American Rheinmetall leads Team Lynx, an elite industrial coalition that combines the specialized capabilities of Textron Systems, Raytheon, L3Harris Technologies, Allison Transmission, and Anduril Industries, supported by a rapidly expanding network of domestic suppliers.

COTS Journal | September 2026

The

Inside Track Cubic Digital Intelligence’s HiPER DRIVE Assessed “Awardable” on the Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace Digital Intelligence (CDI), a leading provider of defense software for geospatial intelligence and data-driven mission systems, today announced that its HiPER DRIVE solution has achieved “Awardable” status through the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office’s (CDAO) Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace after assessment in July 2026. HiPER DRIVE is CDI’s third solution assessed as Awardable in 2026, joining TAKTICS and Tethys. Three independently assessed capabilities on the Marketplace reflect the breadth and operational relevance of CDI’s defense software portfolio and give Government customers a shorter path from identifying a mission need to putting proven technology in operators’ hands. “HiPER DRIVE’s Awardable status reflects CDI’s continued focus on one of the most persistent challenges in defense operations, ensuring mission-critical data remains available to the people and systems that need it, even when connectivity is limited or unavailable,” said Samuel Stollar, VP & General Manager of Cubic Digital Intelligence. “With multiple Awardable capabilities now available through the Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace, Government customers have more pathways to rapidly acquire proven solutions that address different parts of the data mission, from orchestration and GEOINT dissemination to access at the disconnected tactical edge. The significance is not simply the number

Teledyne FLIR OEM Selected for US Army DUTCH Award to Advance Next-Generation Uncooled Thermal Imaging The award strengthens the trusted domestic thermal imaging industrial base, critical to defense modernization and uncrewed systems priorities. Teledyne FLIR OEM, part of Teledyne Technologies Incorporated (NYSE: TDY), announced it was selected to support the US Army's Delivering Unmatched Thermal Capability Hastened (DUTCH) initiative, led by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of War

of solutions available, but the ability to give customers greater flexibility in how they acquire and deploy the capabilities needed to move trusted data where it can have the greatest mission impact.” The Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace is the Department of War's digital repository of post-competition, readily awardable pitch videos designed to accelerate procurement of AI, data, and analytics capabilities across the enterprise. Awardable status lets Government customers identify HiPER DRIVE as a competitively assessed solution and acquire it through the Tradewinds rapid acquisition pathway. Defense and intelligence organizations rely on geospatial intelligence for mission planning, situational awareness and decision-making, but moving large imagery and terrain datasets can

require significant manual effort in low-connectivity environments. HiPER DRIVE is a high-performance, standalone GEOINT server built on CDI’s proven HiPER LOOK technology for disconnected, denied, degraded, intermittent, and low-bandwidth (DDIL) operations. It delivers data into existing mapping and analytical applications across enterprise, tactical, and edge environments. Small enough to fit in a pocket, HiPER DRIVE stores terabytes of imagery and terrain data prepared for operational use. This reduces manual preparation and lets teams access mission-critical GEOINT locally, without reach-back connectivity or added strain on tactical networks. It supports WMS, WMTS, WCS, and KMZ, along with ATAK and WinTAK integration.

for Critical Technologies and the US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) C5ISR Center, to enhance next-generation uncooled thermal infrared (IR) sensing for defense applications. The DUTCH initiative is focused on strengthening US thermal sensor capabilities. The program will improve uncooled thermal sensor performance while reducing size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C). The initiative also emphasizes scaling these technologies for high-volume production to enable future defense programs. Uncooled thermal sensors are essential technologies for a variety of defense applications, including uncrewed aerial systems, loitering munitions, thermal

binoculars, and weapons sights. Under the award, Teledyne FLIR OEM will further develop uncooled thermal imaging technologies and apply its system integration expertise to drive development and demonstration efforts aligned with US Army modernization priorities. The work builds on the company's continued investment in advanced small-pixel pitch uncooled thermal architectures and recent product innovations that scale integration across defense and uncrewed missions. "Teledyne FLIR OEM is proud to contribute to the U.S. Army's efforts to accelerate next-generation uncooled thermal performance while strengthening a secure, resilient domestic industrial base," said Paul

COTS Journal | September 2026

The

Inside Track Clayton, President of Teledyne FLIR OEM. "Our ability to deliver state-of-the-art, NDAA-compliant thermal imaging solutions on time and at scale helps reduce program risk and ensure reliable longterm access for critical defense programs, like Drone Dominance." The DUTCH initiative aligns with Department of War priorities to strengthen secure microelectronics supply chains and restore domestic manufacturing capacity for mission-critical technologies. Teledyne FLIR OEM’s role builds on its experience as a U.S.based non-traditional defense contractor

providing high-volume manufacturing and system-level integration for uncooled thermal imaging systems, helping expand a scalable, low-risk domestic supply base for infrared components. "A trusted, scalable, and resilient domestic supply of high-performance thermal imaging camera modules is vital to U.S. national security," said George Bobb, President and Chief Executive Officer of Teledyne Technologies. "Across Teledyne, we are committed to moving quickly to develop and deliver the critical defense technologies needed by our warfighters."

General Atomics Microreactor Selected for US Army Janus Program

cooling‑water infrastructure. "General Atomics draws on more than 70 years of nuclear innovation and reactor expertise to deliver microreactor technologies that provide safe, dependable, and independent power for military installations. Our experience designing and deploying 68 reactors worldwide and supporting reactor technologies throughout their lifecycles positions us to deliver assured energy solutions that enhance operational resilience and strengthen mission readiness," Scott Forney, President of GA-EMS, said. "The Janus Program is about transitioning from designs and experiments to reliable commercial hardware which secures our energy independence," Jeff Waksman, PhD., principal deputy assistant secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment, said. "The Janus Program vendors were selected through a deeply rigorous evaluation of technical, financial, and organizational capabilities conducted by an all-star panel of dozens of experts from across the nation. We look forward to working alongside each team as they proceed toward completing the rigorous technical milestones we've agreed upon." GA‑TES is a liquid-metal-cooled microre-

General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) announced its selection by the US Army as one of multiple industry partners for the Janus Program to advance the General Atomics Tactical Energy System (GA‑TES) for future deployment. Engineered for remote, austere, and strategically important environments, GA-TES is a microreactor designed to deliver safe and reliable power to maintain critical operations during electric grid disruptions that threaten energy security. Led by the Army in partnership with the Department of War Innovation Unit, the Janus Program is accelerating commercially developed nuclear technologies into operational use. GA-EMS will execute its effort through an Other Transaction Authority-based agreement and milestone-based funding tied to specific technical goals. GA‑TES builds on General Atomics’ longstanding nuclear heritage, including its pioneering work in uranium-zirconium hydride (UZrH) fuel technology and the proven safety and operating record of TRIGA® reactors deployed globally. GA-EMS carries that legacy forward by integrating nuclear technologies and materials with power and energy systems expertise to develop practical solutions for demanding national security missions. GA-TES combines the self-regulating characteristics of UZrH fuel with pump-free natural-circulation cooling to enhance passive safety and simplify operations, while providing secure, reliable power for critical defense infrastructure without dependence on large

actor with a baseline net output of approximately 5 megawatts electric (MWe) and an architecture scalable to approximately 20 MWe. Designed for remote, off-grid, and extreme environments, the plant has a 40-year design life. Its modular architecture supports transport and deployment by truck or rail, while natural-circulation primary coolant flow eliminates pumps and associated mechanical complexity. “Passive safety and operational simplicity are fundamental to our Tactical Energy System design. Self-protecting UZrH fuel and pump-free natural-circulation cooling reduce reliance on active systems and operator intervention, while providing flexibility to meet evolving defense energy requirements," Christina Back, Ph.D., vice president of GAEMS Nuclear Technologies and Materials, said. Under the Janus Program, Fort Hood, Texas, will serve as the installation to advance GA-TES through development, testing, and site-planning milestones toward potential deployment. This work supports the Army's broader nuclear objectives.

COTS Journal | September 2026

SPECIAL FEATURE

COUNTERING LOW-FLYING AND ONEWAY ATTACK DRONES BY REDUCING GROUND CLUTTER REFLECTIONS AND RADAR RADIO MULTIPATH FADING

COTS Journal | September 2026

By Mark Radford, Chief Technology Officer, Blighter Surveillance Systems

ecent conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine have highlighted the challenge of radar detection of low-altitude and one-way attack drones that fly 'below the radar' at altitudes under 100 m, taking advantage of ground clutter reflections and radio propagation fading effects. These real-world issues conceal small air targets beneath the larger clutter returns and weaken the radio signal. While low-frequency long-range air surveillance and counter-UAS radars are essential in a layered drone detection system and offer good capability for high-flying drones, their ability to detect low-flying and near-surface targets is often compromised. Why? Because they simply cannot avoid the dramatic fading effects of multipath when scanning the horizon and cannot consistently remove significant ground clutter.

This article examines how advanced Ku-band sensing, electronic scanning array antennas, micro-Doppler waveforms, and sophisticated clutter-suppression technologies can minimize radio multipath fading and remove significant ground clutter, providing a COTS solution for detecting these low-flying and one-way attack drones. Radar remains a detection system immune to weather, light, and sound conditions, and, with careful design, can also avoid detection by adversarial electronic sensing. With clever engineering and some degree of ingenuity, near-surface targets such as first-person-view (FPV), fiber-optic, and Shahed-type winged drones – even those flown at 50m or less tracking the terrain – can be successfully detected, classified, and tracked by radar.

Ground Clutter Removal with ESA & Micro-Doppler Signal Processing Ground clutter is the massive radar reflection returned by everything on the ground and not moving. This can include mountains, hillsides, buildings, trees, vegetation, fences, signage, power lines, and other infrastructure. Anything that stands above the ground can reflect radar energy – often surprisingly efficiently - and it does not have to be metallic. To detect a drone 5km away with a radar cross-sectional area (RCS) of 1 m² in an area with buildings or a hillside in view would typically require illuminating a total volume of over 1 million cubic meters to detect that tiny drone. The radar must discriminate that 1 m² moving target alongside a radar reflection potentially 115,000 times larger.

COTS Journal | September 2026

Supacat Coyote tactical support vehicle featuring Blighter's Ku-band ESA micro-Doppler radar Clearly, ground clutter is a major radar challenge, which is why classic air surveillance radars and many C-UAS systems point upward to illuminate air targets and avoid this problem. Modern non-rotating electronic systems and digital signal processing (DSP) platforms allow the ubiquitous Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to provide Doppler discrimination, the ability to distinguish different types of motion or targets by their frequency signatures. A large ‘micro-Doppler’ FFT can segment the zero-Doppler (no motion) radar return from ground clutter within a Doppler bin equivalent to a tenth of 1km/hr. or less. Electronic-Scanning Array Avoid Clutter Spreading

Antennas

While modern DSP platforms allow this level of Doppler fidelity, mechanical rotation of classic single-antenna radars adds both incoming and outgoing Doppler components to the otherwise

very narrow zero-Doppler ground-clutter measurement. This clutter spreading can easily obscure a 1 m² target, such as a drone. Electronic-scanning array (ESA) antennas provide many individual beam positions to deliver the volumetric coverage needed, but each beam is static. With no Doppler spreading, the radar can achieve remarkable ground-clutter rejection, allowing the 1 m² target in 115,000 m² of clutter to be easily discriminated. Several ESA architectures exist, but they all produce symmetrical transmit and receive beams, with energy tightly focused on the area of interest. Other staring array technologies, such as holographic radars, also have no mechanical rotation. Still, they illuminate large areas of ground clutter asymmetrically, making clutter rejection considerably harder for near-surface detection. Rejecting ground clutter while detecting low-flying drones requires an ele-

COTS Journal | September 2026

gant, highly complex solution using ESA antenna technology and Micro-Doppler signal processing. It also requires engineering excellence to preserve the fidelity of tiny target signals across the entire radar system, especially in the DSP. Using Ku-band Radar to Reduce Radio Multipath Fading (RMF) Anyone who has driven down a long highway listening to FM radio slowly fading in and out, and eventually fading to nothing, has experienced Radio Multipath Fading (RMF). It affects almost all ground-based communications systems, and height is the best mitigating factor. Radar is another communication system, with a twist. It suffers RMF from the radar to the target, and then the reflected signal returns to the same radar receiver. This creates a double-fading effect that acts like a brick wall and can severely limit maximum detection range unless carefully managed. While RMF is best known for its fading

effects, it has one upside: the same direct-indirect phasing effect can enhance the signal under certain conditions. With careful design of radar deployment height, it can improve target detection range by allowing the radar signal to reach its normal signal-to-noise limit before the catastrophic effects of RMF overwhelm it.

mitigation simply by elevating the radar a few meters above the ground. RMF will still occur; however, the fade periods are shorter, allowing target trackers to 'join the missing plots, ' and the distance where near-ground fading becomes terminal can be pushed out beyond the signal-to-noise limitations of the same radar.

While RMF affects all ground-based communications systems, operating frequency can significantly affect how quickly fading becomes a problem.

Blighter Surveillance Systems has implemented these techniques in its COTS ground-based radars, including its A400 and B400 2D radars and its A800 4D multi-mode radars, to protect against low-flying and one-way attack drones. These systems are deployed as part of a layered drone detection system by the US Air Force, at several international airports and by multinational forward operating bases in the Middle East.

Ku-band radars, operating typically in the 15 to 17GHz dedicated radar bands, have the shortest wavelengths of typical longer-range government/military grade radar systems. This short wavelength of just 2cm is easiest to manage for RMF

Mark Radford has worked in the radar industry since 1985, initially as a designer of high-performance signal processing solutions for naval radar systems and later as a system designer and development manager. Since joining Blighter in 2000, Mark has been responsible for specifying, designing, and developing Blighter electronic-scanning array radars. The discovery of North Korean winged drones along the Korean demilitarised zone (DMZ) in 2014 kick-started Blighter’s development of its Ku-Band ground radar system and later a complementary C-UAS system called AUDS.

Countering Low-Flying Drones Is Possible With Sophisticated Ku-Band Esa Micro-Doppler Radar

COTS Journal | September 2026

SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

RIVETS OR WELDS? TODAY’S DEFENSE INDUSTRIAL BASE MUST RELEARN THE HARD-EARNED LESSONS OF SPEED OVER QUALITY.

COTS Journal | September 2026

By Chris Morton, Vice President, Industries, IFS

n November of 1943, the Liberty Ship SS John P. Gaines broke in two and sank, resulting in the loss of 10 of her crew. The board of investigation found that the grade of steel used in welded construction embrittled in the cold waters of the Aleutian Islands. Today, the defense industrial base (DIB) faces a Liberty-like moment: immense demand for volume and speed, innovation from founders outside the traditional industrial base, and existential global threats, where getting things wrong has dire consequences. The industrial base would do well to take a moment to look back at history’s lessons to balance the speed the moment requires with the well-established foundations of testing and quality. The Lessons The Liberty Ship was a class of cargo ship used in World War II that was simple, slow, and unglamorous – and critical in moving people and supplies for the War. Demand wasn't the issue – the time it took to make one was. Historically, it took an average of 355 days to build one ship. Henry Kaiser was a teenage dropout who made his name in government paving contracts. He brought his Henry-Ford style mass-production logic to the Liberty ship. His plan? Replace rivets with welds. Welding suited mass production and required less skilled labor. His showpiece vessel, the SS Robert E. Peary, took just over seven days to complete. The War demanded speed and Kaiser delivered. Putting ships in the water wasn't the problem; keeping them afloat was – often overloaded and in harsh conditions. Unfortunately, of

the 2700 Liberty Ships produced, 1500 had significant brittle weld fractures, and twelve ships broke in half without warning. History’s Rhyme While the West isn't technically in a "World War" today, the demand for speed and volume mirrors 1943. Conflict in the Middle East, the War in Ukraine, and looming threats across the globe have spurred nations to invoke a need to be on a “wartime footing," in the wake of decades of outsourcing industrial manufacturing. The War in Ukraine outstripped NATO's peacetime production capacity for 155mm artillery shells within months. In 12 days of War in June of 2025 between the U.S. and Israel versus Iran, the U.S. reportedly fired 28% of all THAAD interceptors ever delivered. In 2025, U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said it explicitly, “This is a 1939 moment or hopefully a 1981 moment,” and later in testimony to the U.S. Congress, “We've sent an unambiguous demand signal to industry partners to build more and build faster." EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius has echoed these sentiments: "We cannot afford to slow it down… we are asking industry to speed up.” History is rhyming, so how should the defense industrial base embrace speed and innovation without repeating past mistakes? The Pitfalls Of Innovation At Speed Tectonic estimates that from the first half of 2025 to 2026,

COTS Journal | September 2026

private investment in defense tech has increased by 40% year over year. Across Silicon Valley, defense has become en vogue, but today's Kaisers don't come from the traditional defense prime ecosystem. Palmer Luckey of Anduril is best known for his VR headset; Dino Mavrookas of Saronic is a former Navy SEAL who spent time in private equity; and Chris Power of Hadrian has a background in e-commerce. But defense hardware isn’t an app or a commercial VR gadget. Quality testing processes enshrined in defense manufacturing are lessons learned on the battlefield. Companies like Anduril are leveraging commercial practices to speed products to market and institutionalizing testing as an accelerant. For example, it is employing field engineers embedded with their customers – often in harm’s way. This way, lessons learned firsthand can be brought back to base for improvements, but recent failures—such as mechanical issues with unmanned fighter jets and drones crashing and missing targets in combat—mean not every lesson can be caught early; failure is found in the field rather than on the practice range. The Ooda Loop In fact, the War in Ukraine has become the fastest real-world example of the Observe, Orient, Decide, and Act (OODA) loop for military technology in a generation.

COTS Journal | September 2026

From low-cost attritable drones to exquisite counter-drone munitions, this conflict has offered a preview of future warfare that has captured the industry’s imagination. Some commentators have said that “non-drone militaries are obsolete.” History is replete with nations that failed to recognize the evolving nature of warfare. It took the U.S. years to adapt to the impact of Improvised Explosive Devices on convoys in Iraq. Industry is responding at pace. In July of 2026, the EU launched an industrial partnership with Ukraine focused almost exclusively on drones, disbursing a billion euros. Over-Indexing On One Data Point In the U.S., Georgetown’s CSET tracked 283 separate investment deals in U.S. drone companies between 2010 and 2025 – with 77% of them going into small, cheap systems in demand in the War in Ukraine. But let's take a breath. Nobody is arguing that drones in Ukraine don't work; against that adversary, and in that terrain, they demonstrably do. But while these systems have undoubtedly bent the curve in Ukraine, they are not a panacea for broad defense investment. This type of drone wouldn’t make it past the ocean breakers in the Taiwan Strait. Defense manufacturers would do well not to just focus on what’s happening in Ukraine. It is a real data point, but it isn’t

the only ocean that the fleet will sail in. Instead, the DIB should listen to the people who would have to do the fighting, not the VC hype. In July of 2026, Task Force 401, the Department of War’s lead body on drones, released a publication that explicitly states, “In sum, drones are not a magic weapon.” The Dib Must Go Back To First Principles. The DIB develops and builds for the military and defense and must not forget that this is in a different league from most manufacturing. Trae Stephens, in a now-famous article in War on the Rocks, pointed out, “In 2018, Under Secretary for Research and Engineering Mike Griffin noted that, on average, it takes the United States 16 years to deliver an idea to operational capability. Software, by contrast, is developed by shipping a minimum viable product out the door as quickly as possible and seeing where it fails.” As a former U.S. Army attack helicopter pilot, a “minimum viable product” is not a helicopter I would have climbed into. Yes, there are benefits to the current move to “design to build.” While these ideas can undoubtedly improve the speed of manufacturing, the defense industry has to keep its customer in mind – the warfighter. There are ways to both improve speed while maintaining safety and performance. The Lessons The Dib Must Learn.

The value of the digital thread. Today’s best industry-specific business systems are not just financial reconciliation software solutions. They are robust and enable a real digital thread – from engineering to production to lifecycle management. The DIB needs to invest in just such a system – one that is specific enough to handle the unique requirements in the defense industry – yet broad enough to cover the full lifecycle of the assets they make for Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen. Defense manufacturers should heed the lessons of the past and learn from the wars of the present, when nations demand speed over all else. First -Testing shoulder-to-shoulder with the end user is vital, especially as several companies have little defense experience. Manufacturers can go fast, but they must fail fast. Second, learn the right lessons. Future wars are not today’s wars, and over-indexing on one capability or environment is a costly mistake. Finally, don’t ever design to build in defense manufacturing. Manufacturers must design to operate. Doing so is fundamentally better, with robust data and technology simply unavailable in 1943. As nations find themselves rearming in the modern threat environment, they are being handed the same choice, with a faster clock – we don’t need to wait until the ship splits in half.

COTS Journal | September 2026

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

TO EFFECTIVELY FUTURE-PROOF TECHNOLOGY, AGENCIES MUST LOOK TO THE MISSION. 26

COTS Journal | September 2026

By Michael Collett, Executive Director, Business Development (DOJ)

s AI adoption accelerates across the government, modernization has become a must-have for federal agencies. Recent mandates from the current administration have raised the stakes for these agencies to implement tighter oversight, improve security, consolidate systems and replace outdated technology that no longer meets mission needs. Recently, OMB directed agencies to improve transparency in federal technology buying by requiring monthly CIO reports, better pricing, and the adoption of risk-based security models that align with the mission. Along similar lines, President Trump’s Management Agenda is calling for secure digital-first services, AI and automation and eliminating data silos. These efforts build on years of modernization policy and

zero-trust mandates, elevating legacy IT from a back-office issue to a national security concern. However, a short-term fix for modernization is often just legacy debt in a different form. As agencies modernize, they need to make lasting technology decisions capable of surviving leadership changes, budget shifts, acquisition delays, evolving threats and changing mission demands over time. Future-proofing starts with the mission, not technology. When future-proofing, agencies must focus on their main goal, not just technology. The mission comes first. Agencies should step back from the solution itself and ask how the technology is boosting operational effectiveness, workforce pro-

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ductivity and risk-based decision-making. A cargo-screening tool may speed throughput, but does it help officers find higher-risk shipments without creating issues in the supply chain? A data platform may give the Coast Guard better awareness, but does it help crews act faster with fewer people while also supporting a risk-based threat response? DHS is interconnected and constantly changing, with varied missions that often overlap across components. This overlap necessitates that agencies take a holistic approach to modernizing and future-proofing technology. For example, border security doesn’t fall on a single agency or unit. CBP and the Coast Guard both contribute to securing bor-

der environments. A data platform that’s effective for one but not the other creates an operational gap. In the same way, traveler screening relies on coordination between CBP and TSA (not to mention the additional coordination that occurs with state and local counterparts who provide additional scrutiny in the traveler screening process). A system that enhances vetting for one agency but disrupts handoffs for the other is not truly future-proof.

and cybersecurity. Threats evolve faster than budget and acquisition timelines; a cybersecurity solution procured 18 months ago is likely already outdated as AI accelerates the scale and speed of attacks. What worked before no longer fits today's IT environment, so agencies have to choose technologies and approaches that adjust as conditions change.

Legacy systems, fragmented modernization, proprietary lock-in, and outdated procurement cycles all make it hard for agencies to adapt. A quick fix might help now, but it causes bigger problems later on. This is especially clear with AI

However, adaptability depends on more than architecture. Even the best-designed systems fall short if agencies aren’t properly managing how they are deployed, the standards to ensure consistency, the testing to validate performance and the data quality to support

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Governance, readiness and measurable value

trustworthy outcomes. Success with AI depends on building oversight, traceability and evaluation processes to ensure systems are reliable and aligned to mission requirements. Just as important, the workforce must be trained to use these tools effectively. Sustainable adoption depends on training, change management and shifting perception toward how AI is improving their work. To assist with this process, agencies should look to work with integration partners that have expertise in agile delivery. While investing in strong prod-

ucts can be a good temporary way to improve agencies’ tech stack, these solutions often don’t align with the overall IT environment. Each decision should be evaluated carefully to ensure the solution functions effectively within existing systems and can support future growth.

points without adding personnel. Agencies can also measure mission impact through stronger operational outcomes, such as whether security technologies actually improve lane effectiveness or make critical systems more resilient against cyber or physical disruption.

Future-proof investments should show measurable mission value, whether through productivity gains, improved output, stronger resilience or better operational outcomes. Agencies can measure productivity gains based on mission impact. i.e., if the same workforce can process more cases, reduce backlogs or move more travelers through check-

For federal agencies, future-proofing means making mission-centered decisions that handle change while staying relevant. Agencies will be better prepared if they focus on mission needs, avoid quick solutions that limit them later and invest in governance to keep technology secure, adaptable and mission-ready.

COTS Journal | September 2026

September 2026

COT’S PICKS ConductRF Expands True VNA Test Cable Offering with TUFFFLEX VNATM Ruggedized Test Cables Through 40 GHz ConductRF has expanded the availability of its TUFF-FLEX VNATM Test Cable family, a ruggedized line of precision RF test cable assemblies engineered for Vector Network Analyzer measurements through 40 GHz in demanding laboratory, engineering, and production test environments. TUFF-FLEX VNA is one of three specialized product families within ConductRF’s growing True VNA RF Test Cable platform. Rather than designing a single test cable for every VNA application, ConductRF has developed three complementary cable architectures to meet the mechanical and electrical demands engineers face during precision RF measurement. TUFF-FLEX VNATM emphasizes ruggedness and durability through 40 GHz. HI-FLEX VNATM emphasizes maneuverability and electrical stability during frequent cable movement through 70 GHz. APEX VNATM extends the platform into precision millimeter-wave measurements through 120 GHz.

When the Test Cable Has to Take the Abuse VNA measurements depend upon the electrical and phase stability of the complete measurement path. In high-use test environments, however, the test cable is also a mechanical component that may be repeatedly handled, routed, flexed, connected, and disconnected throughout its service life. TUFF-FLEX VNA cables were developed specifically for applications where the physical environment demands a more rugged solution. The assemblies combine precision RF performance with reinforced mechanical construction designed to withstand frequent handling, torsional forces, bending, and crushing. A stainless-steel spiral conduit armor protects the internal cable structure against excessive bending and mechanical damage, helping preserve the integrity of the test interconnect over repeated use. This makes TUFF-FLEX particularly well suited for high-volume engineering laboratories, automated test systems, production test stations, and other RF and microwave measurement environments where cables can experience much greater mechanical stress than during occasional bench-top use. Precision Performance Through 40 GHz Standard TUFF-FLEX VNA configura-

New Tier 3 Hardware Management Card in 3U OpenVPX Slot Pluggable Format Pixus Technologies, a provider of embedded computing and chassis solutions, has released a new SOSA-aligned Tier 3 3U OpenVPX chassis manager. Pixus has offered a mezzanine-based version of the chassis manager since 2023, the SHM300-00, which resides underneath the backplane and saves a slot of space. Some customers have the extra space to use a slot and/or are familiar with the VITA 48.2 conduction-cooled form factor. Therefore, we created the 3U slot pluggable version, the

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tions support frequencies through 40 GHz with 50-ohm impedance and connector interfaces including SMA, Type-N, TNC, 3.5 mm and 2.92 mm (K) configurations. Depending on the selected cable and configuration, TUFF-FLEX assemblies provide crush resistance up to 1,050 lb/in., shielding effectiveness greater than 100 dB, and mating life up to 5,000 cycles. The result is a test cable designed not simply to survive a demanding test environment, but to provide the electrical consistency required of the measurement interconnect operating within it. Choosing the Right True VNA Cable TUFF-FLEX is deliberately not positioned as the universal answer for every VNA application. Where engineers frequently reposition DUTs or manipulate cables during tuning and characterization, ConductRF offers HI-FLEX VNATM, a more maneuverable, lightly armored solution designed to minimize flex force while supporting precision measurements through 70 GHz. For advanced millimeter-wave measurements, APEX VNATM extends the True VNA platform through 120 GHz using precision 1.0 mm interfaces and a flexible construction optimized for ultra-high-frequency measurement environments. SHM300-20. Both use the same 100% USAbased software and firmware. The SHM300 line of chassis managers is Tier 3 and VITA 46.11 compliant. They also align with the SOSA® Technical Standard and Hardware Management Card (HMC) specifications. Various versions of the SHM300 have been fully deployed in key US defense programs. Pixus develops OpenVPX and other VITA-based backplane, enclosure, and chassis manager solutions. The company also provides customized and specialty OpenVPX designs, as well as various ruggedized solutions.

September 2026

COT’S PICKS Aitech Brings Data-Center-Class AI Performance to Defense Platforms with Next-Generation 3U VPX C530 and SOSA-Aligned 3U VPX U-C5300 Rugged AI GPGPU Boards. Aitech announced the new 3U VPX C530 and SOSA®-aligned 3U VPX U-C5300 GPGPU boards, the next generation of rugged AI GPU accelerators. The new C530 and U-C5300 deliver a substantial leap in AI compute compared to the previous generation. They provide significant improvements in AI inference, memory bandwidth, and graphics performance while maintaining compatibility with rugged VPX architectures. Defense platforms generate unprecedented volumes of sensor and video data, and traditional CPU-based mission computers can no longer keep pace with the demands of AI

inference, multi-stream HD video processing, and advanced sensor fusion. These new AI-enabled GPGPU boards provide the rugged, SWaP-optimized heterogeneous computing architecture needed to bring high-performance AI to the edge, enabling faster mission decisions, improved situational awareness, and greater operational autonomy. Replacing previous-generation configurations, the new upgrades provide significantly higher AI inference throughput, enhanced graphics performance and greater memory bandwidth. This enables system integrators and mission computer manufacturers to run more sophisticated AI models, process additional sensor streams, and support next-generation autonomous capabilities without increasing platform size, weight, or power requirements. The new AI GPGPU boards enable faster, more accurate performance in AI delivery, video analytics, image processing, object detection, and classification tasks. Both boards offer up to 9,728 CUDA cores for parallel processing, 304 Tensor Cores for AI inference, and 76 ray-tracing cores for real-time rendering. The boards deliver up to 35.8 TFLOPS of FP32 compute performance and 576 GB/s memory bandwidth, providing the processing power required for demanding real-time edge AI workloads. The U-C5300 offers SOSA alignment for next-generation defense programs. For organizations pursuing open-architecture modernization initiatives, the U-C5300 simplifies integration, improves interoperability, and ac-

celerates deployment across next-generation defense platforms. “AI is transforming defense operations, but the challenge is delivering real-time intelligence where missions happen, making AI workload processing at the tactical edge mission-critical,” said Dan Mor, director of customer solutions, Aitech. “By bringing NVIDIA RTX Ada performance to rugged VPX architectures, the C530 and U-C5300 enable faster AI inference, real-time analytics and greater mission autonomy while supporting the long lifecycles, open standards and software continuity that defense programs require.” C530: High-Performance GPGPU The C530 multi-head GPGPU is a powerful, AI-enabled 3U VPX GPGPU board that delivers remarkable performance in a compact, rugged form factor. With a powerful compute architecture, it suits compute-intensive applications, including unmanned and autonomous vehicles, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), targeting systems, advanced video processing, and sensor fusion. U-C5300: SOSA-Aligned High-Performance GPGPU As adoption of SOSA and OpenVPX architectures continues to expand across the US Department of War and allied programs, the U-C5300 has the same architecture upgrade as the C530. It aligns with the SOSA Technical Standard, helping defense programs meet interoperability requirements while enabling smoother integration from development through deployment. The updated C530 and U-C5300 GPGPU boards support AI processing across a range of defense applications, including: • Autonomous navigation, sensor fusion and target recognition for ground mobile vehicles • Real-time video analytics and EO/IR processing for airborne platforms • Combat management AI and radar processing for naval applications • AI-based signal classification for electronic warfare (EW) systems • Object detection, classification and tracking for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS)

COTS Journal | September 2026

September 2026

COT’S PICKS Tekdense Magpie II Packs Multi-Core Muscle into Rugged Edge Ecosystems The Magpie II from Tekdense represents a substantial leap forward for military and aerospace engineers who need localized, high-performance computing in heavily space-constrained environments. As tactical environments become increasingly data-rich, demand for edge processing power has outpaced the capabilities of legacy hardware architectures. To address this critical operational gap, the newly optimized system is a next-generation Small Form Factor (SFF) Rugged Mission Computer designed to seamlessly manage complex, multi-domain deployment workloads without forcing system integrators to compromise durability or physical footprint constraints. Engineered specifically to succeed the origi-

Abaco Systems Launches its First VNX+ Product New VNX382 compact, low-SWaP rugged single-board computer enhances secure communications and autonomous systems. Abaco Systems introduces the VNX382, the company's first VNX+ product, extending rugged embedded computing into size-, weight-, and power-constrained applications without compromising functional safety, security, or edge processing. Aligned with the VITA 90 / VNX+ standard and built on the NXP i.MX95 system-on-chip, the VNX382 delivers high performance in a low-SWaP envelope. Six lockstep-capable Arm Cortex-A55 cores, a dedicated Cortex-M7 safety domain, and support for multiple real-time operating systems make the architecture well suited to safety-oriented, mission-critical applications. An onboard Arm Mali GPU and integrated

nal processing platform, the system introduces a highly sophisticated multi-core processor architecture that drastically elevates overall computational throughput. This processing boost is backed by a major increase in system RAM, ensuring low-latency data handling and smooth multitasking when running algorithmic mission profiles simultaneously. By modernizing these internal components, the platform efficiently processes dense sensor data fusion and command-and-control applications on-site, eliminating the dangerous dependency on cloud communication infrastructure. To balance this influx of processing power, the mechanical engineering team carefully optimized the system's Size, Weight, Power, and Cost (SWaP-C) parameters. While the chassis features a slightly modified physical envelope to safely accommodate the expanded thermal and electrical demands of its advanced multi-core CPU, it retains the dense ruggedization qualities necessary to survive harsh shock, vibration, and

extreme temperature ranges. This careful design balance allows defense teams to install the hardware directly into tight compartments within unmanned vehicles, mobile ground stations, and airborne pods where every millimeter matters. To meet distinct integration requirements across military branches, the hardware platform is available in multiple variations, including the Magpie II-T and Magpie II-R variants. These tailored configurations let system architects choose the precise connectivity profiles, local storage capabilities, and specialized physical interfaces needed for their deployment. By providing a scalable, incredibly dense processing hub that handles next-generation military applications right at the edge, the platform sets a high benchmark for modular rugged computing. For engineering teams tasked with upgrading existing mission capabilities under restrictive spatial envelopes, this system delivers an immediate, combat-ready processing boost.

NPU add 2 TOPS of AI performance, running common edge inference tasks such as object detection, sensor fusion, and situational awareness locally to reduce latency and dependence on external compute. The VNX382 supports a broad range of interfaces, including 1GbE and 10GbE networking with TSN, USB, and CAN bus. This makes it ideal for tactical edge computing, secure communications, autonomous systems, flight control, UAS/UAV payloads, electronic warfare, ISR, rugged displays and sensor fusion, deployable in uncrewed vehicles and portable or wearable platforms. Security is built in. The i.MX95's NXP EdgeLock® Secure Enclave supports post-quantum cryptography and inline encryption of sensitive data at rest and in transit, and hardware-enforced resource partitioning addresses the isolation demands of mission-critical systems. "The VNX382 answers a growing customer need

for platforms that combine security, functional safety and AI acceleration within tightly constrained SWaP," said Simon Collins, Director of Product Management at Abaco Systems. "It also establishes the foundation for Abaco's broader VNX+ and certifiable systems roadmap." Developed by VITA and the Open Group SOSA community and ratified by ANSI in 2026, VNX+ extends the open-standards approach of VPX into significantly lower-SWaP applications. The VNX382 is available as a SOSA-aligned VNX+ module in VITA 90.0 sidewall-cooled or VITA 90.4 wedgelock-cooled formats, or as a mezzanine System-on-Module (SOM) for the most size-constrained platforms.

COTS Journal | September 2026

September 2026

COT’S PICKS AAEON Releases Micro-ATX Duo with Intel Core Ultra Desktop Processors AAEON announced two new Micro-ATX industrial motherboards featuring Intel® Core™ Ultra 200S Series Processors (formerly Arrow Lake-S): the MAX-Q870A and MAX-H810A. The two boards support a range of Arrow Lake-S CPUs, with the MAX-Q870A supporting up to 125W SKUs and the MAX-H810A supporting up to 65W SKUs. This difference reflects the market positioning of the two boards, with the former marketed for advanced AI and machine vision use and the latter for more cost-efficient industrial automation and HMI applications. The MAX-Q870A provides four CU/UDIMM slots for up to 256GB DDR5, with storage options including two M.2 M-Key slots with NVMe support and two SATA 6Gb/s ports with RAID 0, 1, 5 support. The board also supports four PCIe devices simultaneously through one PCIe Gen 5 x16, two PCIe Gen 4 x4, and one PCIe Gen 4 x1 slot. For both Wi-Fi and 5G module support, the board offers an M.2 E-Key

TASKING and WITTENSTEIN high integrity systems Enable OS-Aware Timing Analysis Without Hardware-Based Trace By combining TASKING's embedded development tools with WITTENSTEIN high integrity systems (WHIS) SAFERTOS®, engineering teams gain a complete, OS-aware toolchain for debugging, testing, and certifying safety-critical appli-

slot with CNVi support and an M.2 B-Key slot. The board's rear I/O includes three LAN ports, two at 2.5GbE, six USB 3.2 Gen 2 (Type-A) ports, and one DB-9 port for RS232/422/485. It also includes four physical display outputs: two HDMI 2.1 and two DP 1.4a, all supporting 4K resolution at 60 Hz. In addition, the MAX-Q870A's internal connectors provide access to a co-lay 40-pin LVDS/eDP connector. Additional internal I/Os include pin headers for eight additional USB ports, a box header for five RS-232 interfaces, and an 8-bit DIO. The MAX-H810A, meanwhile, delivers the essential features required for modern industrial automation and HMI applications at a cost-efficient price point. In addition to its Arrow Lake processor support, the board supports up to 128GB of DDR5 via two CU/UDIMM slots, with storage through dual SATA 6Gb/s ports with RAID 0 and 1 support and an M.2 M-Key slot. For expansion, the board includes PCIe Gen 5 x16, PCIe Gen 4 x4, and PCIe Gen 4 x1 slots, plus an M.2 E-Key slot for wireless module support. The MAX-H810A's rear I/O features two USB 3.2 Gen 2x1 (10Gbps), two USB 3.2 Gen

1x1 (5Gbps), and two USB 2.0 ports. It also includes dual 2.5GbE LAN ports, HDMI 2.1 and DP 1.4a, and a DB-9 port for RS-232/422/485. The board also offers the same LVDS/eDP connector, DIO 8-bit, and box header for five RS232 interfaces as its counterpart, with six USB 2.0 interfaces also available through pin headers. Both the MAX-Q870A and MAX-H810A support Windows® 11 and Linux Ubuntu 24.04.2, and hold the unusual distinction of -20°C to 60°C operating temperature ranges, an upgrade on the 0°C to 60°C for AAEON’s previous Micro-ATX offerings.

cations to IEC 61508, ISO 26262, DO-178C and other industry standards. TASKING announced a tighter integration between its unified toolchain and WITTENSTEIN high integrity systems (WHIS)'s pre-certified safety real-time operating system SAFERTOS®. With TASKING's embedded software trace tool (SWAT), developers can perform comprehensive OS-aware timing analysis without dedicated onchip hardware trace support. In safety-critical embedded systems, precise timing is unquestionably critical. In a flight control system, for example, missing the response window by even a fraction of a millisecond can be the difference between a controlled maneuver and a loss of aircraft control. However, not every system-on-chip (SoC) supports hardware-based trace, and many either lack the required features or cannot expose trace pins due to design constraints. Even when it is possible to remodel hardware-trace-compatible SoCs into existing designs, it is costly and time-consuming. The TASKING and WHIS integration bridges this hardware gap by providing access to crucial timing data and enabling engineers to leverage TASKING's extensive

range of debug and test tools to support and accelerate the development and verification of applications running on SAFERTOS. SAFERTOS and TASKING’s tool chain bring together a trusted RTOS and a comprehensive embedded software development environment, helping engineers work more efficiently, troubleshoot issues more effectively, and focus on delivering high-quality embedded software. "With this new level of integration, development teams designing safety-critical systems around SAFERTOS have access to the comprehensive debug, test, and verification capabilities of the TASKING unified toolchain," said Janez Ulcakar, Director of Research & Development, TASKING. "This can save precious development time, increase overall reliability, and provide greater confidence in delivering safer systems to customers." With SWAT, developers can now build runtime analysis into their development workflow from the start, without any additional hardware changes to board design. In addition, the development environment is OS-aware to deliver the essential features needed to create robust systems, including monitoring task states, stack usage, queue contents, and scheduling behavior.

COTS Journal | September 2026

September 2026

COT’S PICKS Congatec Strengthens Aready. com With Patented Technology For Cybersecure Edge Architectures Congatec demonstrates the innovative strength of its application-ready aReady.COM modules with an active patent for cybersecure communication between operational technology (OT) and IT infrastructure. aReady.COM from congatec encompasses application-ready embedded hardware and software building blocks, enabling companies to simplify and accelerate the integration of IoT connectivity, security, virtualization, and AI into their solutions. Patent number WO2025186118A1 describes the interaction between the conga-zones hypervisor and the conga-connect IoT software running on a COM. The conga-zones hypervisor provides isolated system partitions, using a gateway to enforce strict data separation between the OT data acquisition side and the IT data transmission side. A security barrier between these two virtual machines prevents direct data forwarding from the IT side to the OT side and

BLOOMY® eSoldier™ Power Monitoring System Assigned National Stock Numbers (NSNs) Army-tested, field-proven portable system for analyzing the power consumed by Soldier-worn and mobile electronics is now available through standard government supply channels. Bloomy Controls, Inc. (BLOOMY®), a leading provider of automated test solutions for mission-critical and emerging applications, announces that the United States Defense Logistics Agency has assigned National Stock Numbers to the eSoldier™ Power Monitoring System. This designation integrates the eSoldier system into the Federal Supply System, streamlining procurement for the US Department of Defense, NATO, and allied defense organizations worldwide. Co-developed with the US Army Development Command Soldier Center (DEVCOM‑SC), the eSoldier system provides precise, multi-channel monitoring and analysis of power consumption for Soldier-worn and mobile battery-operated electronic devices. Its lightweight, rugged, and

vice versa. Furthermore, transmission via data projection prevents external access to the OT device via the IT infrastructure, as well as access to the IT infrastructure via the embedded device. This approach combines machine, application, and communication functions within a single platform that is secure by design.

With aReady.COM, customers can increase functionality on consolidated system architectures, shorten development times, and optimize total cost of ownership (TCO). At the same time, filing this patent clearly indicates congatec’s technical development capabilities and the disruptive potential of its aReady.COM approach. It establishes that congatec consistently thinks beyond distributed sensor architecture allows the Army to collect detailed field power data in real operational environments, enabling insights that were previously difficult or impossible to obtain. As modern missions grow increasingly dependent on the performance of Soldier-worn and mobile electronic systems, these insights allow engineers to evaluate and optimize batteries and equipment to help ensure successful missions. “The NSN assignment reflects the proven utility, field performance, and versatility of the eSoldier system," said Peter Blume, BLOOMY President. "By integrating eSoldier into standard logistics channels, we’re ensuring that all US government and Department of Defense agencies can easily obtain and deploy this essential analysis tool.” The eSoldier system has been rigorously field-tested by the US Army in multiple applications, including evaluations of the Net Warrior system, the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS), exoskeletons, and other emerging Soldier technologies at major military installations across the United States. Key features and capabilities of the eSoldier system include: • Monitoring of multiple channels of voltage, current, temperature, and acceleration

COTS Journal | September 2026

COMs as pure hardware, presenting them as pre-integrated, application-ready system building blocks for secure and connected industrial edge applications. “With aReady.COM, we address key challenges faced by our customers: developing market-ready systems and new digital services for new business models faster; integrating more functionality into their systems; and simultaneously reducing complexity, integration risks, and operating costs,” says Andreas Bergbauer, Manager Solution Management at congatec. "The patent shows how conga-zones and conga-connect work together within aReady.COM to provide secure data exchange as well as isolated functional domains – for example, for AI, real-time control, and user interfaces." “The patented combination of isolated partitions, controlled data exchange, and VPN-based communication is an important building block for ensuring the security by design of our aReady.COMs in secure and cost-effective edge architectures,” adds Konrad Garhammer, COO & CTO at congatec. “With aReady.COM, we simplify the use of complex embedded technologies and create the basis for simple system consolidation, high functional integration, and optimized TCO in industrial applications.”

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High-performance sampling (100 kS/s) and processing algorithms that efficiently capture transients and anomalies in the data • Distributed architecture of wired and wireless sensors to reduce cabling • Lightweight, ruggedized design that can be easily worn by Soldiers or mounted on vehicles and mobile systems With the NSN assignment, authorized procurement personnel can now requisition the eSoldier system and its components directly through the Federal Supply System. The system also remains available for commercial purchase by both government and civilian customers from BLOOMY. For more information, visit the eSoldier Power Monitoring System or contact BLOOMY® to see how the eSoldier can empower your mission.

September 2026

COT’S PICKS IAR Platform Adds Native Cross-Platform IDE for Linux and Windows Native Linux support for IAR's embedded IDE unifies desktop and CI development on a single certified toolchain across safety- and compliance-critical embedded projects. Qt Group announced today that IAR's certified embedded toolchain for safety-critical software development now offers native cross-platform support for its IDE, adding Linux alongside Windows. The capability also integrates directly with VS Code and its extension ecosystem. Embedded software development is shifting toward automated, standardized build processes that increasingly run in Linux-based continuous integration (CI) environments. Qt Group is seeing customers move the same way. Certified compiler toolchains and debuggers, as a category, have not kept pace. This left engineering organizations working across split environments: Windows for desktop development, Linux for CI, or relying on workarounds to bridge the gap. With native Linux support, IAR removes the trade-off entirely: the same certified toolchain, the same reproducible binary results, and the same compliance posture across every developer workstation and build server. Built on the Qt Framework, the IAR Cross-platform IDE renders a true native UI on every supported OS, with the certified compiler and debugger built directly into the IDE. Organizations gain a single standardized environment across mixed-OS teams, broader access to embedded engineering talent, and reduced infrastructure complexity. The underlying toolchain remains unchanged: CMakeand CI-ready by default, with trace depth and live, in-session debugging that safety- and compliance-critical programs depend on. That combination of certification, cross-platform reach, and trace depth is available exclusively within the IAR Plat-

form. "Modernizing a development workflow should not introduce risk into a certified project," said Jakob Ågren, Chief Product Officer at IAR at Qt Group. "Our customers are moving toward Linux-based infrastructure and CI-driven devel-

opment, and they need to do that without re-val-

idating their toolchain or weakening their compliance position. Extending the IAR Platform natively across Linux and Windows lets teams adopt modern workflows and keep the confidence they have already built."

September 2026

COT’S PICKS New SOSA-Aligned 3U VPX SBC Features Intel Tiger Lake-H Xeon-W CPU and 100GbE Acromag’s newest VPX processor board follows SOSA's I/O-intensive profile to deliver high-performance computing and a broad range of I/O interfaces for rugged embedded systems. The new VPX7600 3U OpenVPX SBC is powered by Intel's 11th Generation Tiger Lake-H Xeon W-11000E processor and aligns with the SOSA I/O intensive profile. An XMC mezzanine site and a wide variety of I/O peripherals offer great flexibility. Intel's E810 Ethernet controller supports 100GbE on the data plane and 10GbE on the control plane.

An NVMe SSD provides up to 1TB of M.2 data storage. Backplane I/O includes 2.5GbE, DisplayPort, USB 3.2, SATA III, RS232/422, and GPIO. Conduction-cooled and air-cooled with front I/O versions are available. "This processor board packs a high-performance

COTS Journal | September 2026

workstation-class CPU, 100GbE, and other high-speed I/O interfaces on a 3U VPX card to support defense, aerospace, and scientific applications," suggests Robert Greenfield, Acromag’s Director of Business Development.

September 2026

COT’S PICKS PowerSight® by Summit Technology Redefines Military Service Power Studies with Always-On Remote Monitoring Network PowerSight® Remote Monitoring delivers continuous remote visibility, 24/7 alerts, and scalable access designed to improve power study success for military service applications. Summit Technology, a global leader in the design, manufacture, sale, and rental of the PowerSight® brand of electric power analyzers, accessories, software, and related services, highlights its new PowerSight® Remote Monitoring service, an industry-best remote monitoring solution for portable power analyzers. It combines PowerSight® analyzers, the PowerSight G2000 Remote Monitoring Gateway, and PS-Cloud software to provide continuous, real-time visibility and control of power studies from any location, along with remote download of monitoring data files for automated reporting and Alarms and Alerts that help maximize the likelihood of a successful study for military service applications. At the center of the solution is the cloudbased PS-Cloud platform, which enables always-on data access, control, and alarm notification anywhere cellular service is available. Because the system uses cellular connectivity rather than a site's LAN, users can avoid IT coordination, deploy faster, and reduce the need for site visits to confirm operation or retrieve preliminary data during a study. Users can access PS-Cloud from any internet-connected computer or phone to receive alarms, upload data files, and monitor live measurements from the office, home, or field, improving responsiveness without unnecessary travel. PS-Cloud also centralizes device and alert management across multiple analyzers and projects, simplifying oversight for large-scale monitoring programs. For military service users, this provides a centralized view of monitors and alarms across agency buildings, bases, and critical assets, helping teams prioritize interventions where electrical issues pose the highest risk to operations, safety, compliance, readiness, or public-service continuity. A key part of the architecture is the new PowerSight G2000 Remote Monitoring Gate-

way, which connects to PowerSight® analyzers via a 24/7 Bluetooth link to ensure measurement and status data remain available for remote viewing and control. This design lets analyzers remain safely locked inside electrical panels while the G2000 sits outside the panel in the best location for reliable cellular access. By separating the gateway from the analyzer, PowerSight® addresses the limitations of systems that place cellular capability with the analyzer itself, where reception and safety can both be compromised. The G2000 determines the best cellular network available at the site and can connect to up to 10 PowerSight® analyzers, supporting efficient installation and teardown with less onsite clutter. The always-connected architecture gives users a continuous, real-time view of analyzer status, system operation, and study progress so that they can identify and address issues during the study rather than after the fact. That capability is especially important because invalid studies can be costly and often cannot be repeated due to site and operational constraints. The Remote Monitoring solution also enables remote upload of data files from PowerSight® analyzers into PS-Cloud for cloud backup and protection against loss caused by local hardware failure or accidents. From PS-Cloud, users can remotely download data files into PowerSight PSM-A software for full analysis and report generation, speeding turnaround on deliverables while reducing travel and physical site-access coordination. Military service teams can generate reports remotely at any time, supporting recurring customer reporting and reducing the manual effort required to create a report. To safeguard study integrity around the clock, PowerSight® built robust Alarm and Alerting capabilities into Remote Monitoring. Communications alarms report when connectivity has stopped beyond user-set intervals, while operational alarms indicate events such as monitoring starting or stopping or an analyzer running on backup battery. Planned power quality alarms will notify users when events such as voltage swells, sags, transients, or excessive current inrush occur so action can be taken quickly. PS-Cloud allows customers to assign each type of alarm’s severity as High, Medium, Low, or Not Active, with default values already set. Individual users can configure how they receive notifications for each alarm level, including

email, text, or phone alerts, making it easier to route urgent issues to the right people at the right time. PS-Cloud also supports a Primary User who can create and manage an unlimited number of users within a Customer Domain and override user settings when needed. For additional support, an Admin level allows Summit Technology technical support personnel to access the same equipment and settings available to subscribing users within their Customer Domain. Users monitoring equipment at their own clients’ sites can also create Client Domains, enabling clients to access site-specific data while preserving structured control over visibility and permissions. PowerSight® Remote Monitoring uses a subscription model, quantity 1 PS-REM-4 per analyzer and gateway per month, that allows military services to scale monitoring capacity up or down based on project load and installation configuration. Subscriptions can be started or ended in one-month increments, and paused subscriptions retain user profiles for quick restart on the next study. Separate subscriptions are also available for semi-permanent cloud data storage for ongoing access and comparison. Because Summit Technology sells and rents PowerSight® analyzers, the architecture scales quickly and cost-effectively for military service applications ranging from a single-analyzer, one-week study to dozens of analyzers for multiple months. By combining PS-Cloud software, continuous analyzer connectivity through the G2000, cloud-based data access, and configurable alarms and alerts, PowerSight® Remote Monitoring delivers a breakthrough solution that significantly lowers costs and increases the likelihood of success for power studies. PowerSight® by Summit Technology is a global provider of electric power analyzers, accessories, and related services that help electrical professionals improve power quality, reduce energy costs, and enhance system reliability. Founded in 1992 and designed and manufactured in the United States, the company offers analyzers, software, rentals, and technical support designed for accuracy, safety, and ease of use.

COTS Journal | September 2026

September 2026

COT’S PICKS Common Operating Picture for Ports: hensec Integrates Drone Detection and GNSS Monitoring Baltic Sea countries are stepping up their cooperation to protect against hybrid threats. At the Baltic Sea Security Summit in late August, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden and Norway agreed to intensify information sharing and establish a joint task force. Shared situational awareness and compatible security technologies are also moving higher up the agenda. Ports play a particularly important role: As hubs for logistics, energy supply, industry, and data connections, they are among the most sensitive areas of critical infrastructure. To help protect this infrastructure, German security company hensec secure solutions has developed Portags (Port Airspace and GNSS Security). Designed specifically for ports, the integrated airspace and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) monitoring platform combines multiple detection technologies in one operational view. Put simply, the system monitors the airspace above a port for potential airborne objects such as drones, while simultaneously checking whether satellite navigation signals are reliable or being disrupted. This enables security teams to centrally detect, assess and document drone activity and GNSS interference. “Shared situational awareness isn’t achieved simply by installing more and more individual sensors. What

matters is bringing their data together, correlating it and presenting it in a way that allows security teams to understand what is actually happening quickly," said Kevin Heneka, Managing Director of Hensec Secure Solutions. "Particularly in complex port environments, it is essential not to look at different sources of information in isolation, but to understand how they relate to one another."

and autonomous systems that depend on reliable positioning or timing information. Sensor fusion brings together, correlates, and classifies RF, radar, telemetry, and GNSS data. The system then displays relevant information centrally in a Common Operating Picture. Incidents can be visualized, alerts generated and a traceable event record maintained.

From Individual Signals to a Common Operating Picture Portags combines several detection technologies. RF sensors monitor relevant frequency ranges and detect active drone communication and control signals. These include Remote ID data, control and communication signals, and telemetry and movement information. Passive radar complements this data by making non-transmitting and non-cooperative airborne objects visible. At the same time, the system monitors the GNSS environment. Jamming occurs when GNSS signals are overlaid, blocked, or severely degraded. With spoofing, receivers receive plausible but false navigation or time information. The proprietary GNSS analysis systems integrated into Portags analyze signal quality, detect interference and anomalies, and perform plausibility checks to identify and classify suspicious events. According to Hensec, GNSS interference can affect not only navigation, but also synchronization and automated processes. Potentially affected areas include maritime and air traffic, critical infrastructure, communications systems

GNSS Interference in the Baltic Sea Region Research involving hensec also demonstrates the relevance of GNSS interference to maritime security. During a 2025 measurement campaign, a GNSS interference detector was installed aboard a research vessel operating in the southern Baltic Sea between June and October. The measurements identified combined jamming and spoofing activity, among other interference types. In some cases, the study measured significantly stronger interference at sea than in the Port of Gdansk. The study shows that vessels in the Baltic Sea region are at times exposed to complex GNSS interference. “Where drone activity and interference with navigation signals can occur at the same time, relying on a single sensor source is not enough,” Heneka explained. “Portags therefore takes a multi-sensor approach: Different data sources are brought together and checked for plausibility, giving security teams a reliable basis for assessing the situation.”

COTS Journal | September 2026

Modular, Scalable and Integrable The Portags sensor architecture is designed around the specific site, risk profile, and required coverage. The system is modular and scalable and can be deployed in either stationary or mobile configurations. Potential applications include container terminals, tank farms, port entrances and automated terminals. The system can also monitor critical energy, communications, and control infrastructure. Open interfaces allow Portags to be integrated into existing operations centers. Multiple sensor nodes can be connected via a secure data network, bringing the information together in a Common Operating Picture. Portags therefore takes an integrated approach to port monitoring: detecting drones, identifying GNSS interference, and bringing together different sources of information so that security situations can be assessed centrally and fast, and informed decisions can be made.

COTS

ADVERTISERS Company Annapolis Micro Systems. . . . . .

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BEHLMAN LEADS THE PACK AGAIN! FIRST PROVEN VPX POWER SUPPLIES DEVELOPED IN ALIGNMENT WITH THE SOSA™ TECHNICAL STANDARD

Behlman introduces the first test-proven VPX power supplies developed in alignment with the SOSA Technical Standard. Like all Behlman VPXtra® power supplies, these 3U and 6U COTS DC-to-DC high-power dual output units feature Xtra-reliable design and Xtra-rugged construction to stand up to the rigors of all mission-critical airborne, shipboard, ground and mobile applications.

VPXtra® 1000CD5-IQI

VPXtra® 800D-IQI

> 6U power module developed in alignment with the SOSA Technical Standard > Delivers 1050W DC power via two outputs > VITA 46.11 IPMC for integration with system management

> 3U power module developed in alignment with the SOSA Technical Standard > Delivers 800W DC power via two outputs > VITA 46.11 IPMC for integration with system management

The Power Solutions Provider SOSA™ and logo design and The Open Group Certification Mark™ are trademarks of The Open Group in the United States and other countries.

: 631-435-0410

: sales@behlman.com

: www.behlman.com