The Curtiss-Wright AMMS has a high-speed embedded computing suite for high -performance processing, and a modular, scalable open-systems architecture.

The advent of unmanned systems reflects a huge aspect of warfare – that of protecting the warfighter – through the development of platforms that can be operated by humans from a distance, keeping them out of harm’s way.

Military experts are developing new enabling technologies to help unmanned aircraft, ground vehicles, submarines, and surface vessels swarm and make decisions without human intervention.

The wave of commercially developed communications and remote-sensing satellites seeks to balance costs, capability, size, weight, and power consumption in the latest new space designs.

Contested space, where nations compete for military dominance outside Earth’s atmosphere, is driving many military space platforms, but commercial space and small satellites continue to change the way the military suppliers of space electronics approach radiation-hardened component design from testing to deployment.

Reliable, secure communications become much more critical in unmanned systems. If communications are lost, the unmanned system may need to throttle back.

The fast growth of small satellites and their lower life cycle and launch costs has created a sizable market for low-cost electronic components that have radiation-resistant characteristics.

Paul Davis looks at how netbooting provides a superior alternative solution for installing and updating software that delivers huge labor savings.