Industry standards and guidelines such as MOSA, SOSA, CMOSS, SAVE, and FACE are driving the latest developments in enclosures, chassis, and backplane databuses, as small for factors are ready to take center stage.

To lower the cost and help speed the pace of technology upgrades for C5ISR [command, control, computers, communications, cyber, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance] systems on Army vehicles, the U.S. Army’s Program Executive Officer (PEO) for Ground Combat Systems (GCS) has issued an Interface Description Document (IDD).

In today’s technology-rich battlefield, new threats emerge and change quickly. Rapidly responding to new threats in this dynamic environment is one of the primary drivers behind the DoD mandate to adopt a Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) for procurement across the Army, Air Force, and Navy.

The use of a modular open systems approach (MOSA) will benefit the effort to integrate alternative position, navigation, and timing (PNT) technologies into platforms.

The Sensor Open Systems Architecture Technical Standard (SOSA) – which will bring many benefits to designers of radar systems – will also have a beneficial effect on the design of electronic warfare (EW) systems.

The Sensor Open Systems Architecture (SOSA) seeks to ensure rapid upgrades and technology insertion, no vendor lock, and accommodation of existing standards.

Backed by broad support from government and industry, the release of SOSA Technical Standard 1.0 promises a new era of open standards-based system integration with flexibility and interoperability as its hallmarks.

What are the benefits of using a modular open systems approach to upgrade legacy military electronics systems?