GA-ASI Hosts Joint Industry/Government Open Architecture Conference – sUAS News – The Business of Drones
February Conference Focused on Modular Open Systems Approach for UAS
SAN DIEGO – 13 March 2024 – General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) hosted an Open Architecture Symposium on Feb. 29, 2024, at its headquarters in Poway, California. At the symposium, government and industry speakers highlighted the tools, communities, and partners required to put Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) into practice in the development of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). More than 80 attendees from approximately 30 organizations attended the event, which featured addresses from the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, Chief Digital & Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO), and industry speakers, as well as demonstrations of GA-ASI’s open architecture efforts.
“Open Architecture is key to GA-ASI systems,” said GA-ASI CEO Linden Blue, who spoke at the event. “The Department of Defense’s MOSA efforts are building products that are quicker to integrate and faster to iterate. This enables best-of-breed competition and forms the basis for delivering new capabilities, such as mission autonomy, across our platforms.”
The symposium highlighted a large cross-section of government and industry. GA-ASI appreciated the support and participation of guest speakers from more than a dozen companies. The conversation covered lessons learned from experienced integrators of Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE) and Open Mission Systems (OMS) capabilities, highlighted the diversity of products aligned to MOSA technical standards, and spotlighted growing autonomous capabilities built on open foundations. The Symposium highlighted the rich ecosystem, challenges, and opportunities surrounding open architecture initiatives across the Department of Defense.
The new Gray Eagle 25M (GE 25M) brings MOSA to the Multi-Domain Operations (MDO)-capable system to ensure incremental enhancements can be made at the speed of emerging threats. Rapid integration of technology enables GE 25M to act as an information quarterback, receiving data from multiple reconnaissance assets, employing launched effects, and extending communications networks. GE 25M flew for the first time in Dec. 2023 and adheres to MOSA principles, leveraging modernized avionics, data links, sensor integration, and a laptop ground control station.
GA-ASI Implementing Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) For Gray Eagle ER Inc. 2 - MilitaryLeak.COM
for Gray Eagle ER Inc. 2
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) is working with the U.S. Army to develop a Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) for the Multi-Domain Operations (MDO)-capable Gray Eagle Extended Range (GE-ER) Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS). Incorporating MOSA on GE-ER Increment 2 spans the entire system, including the aircraft and the Command and Control (C2) software suite. The implementation of MOSA will provide multiple new standards for C2, Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE), Open Mission Systems (OMS), Universal Armament Interface (UAI), as well as further segregating the Flight/Mission systems’ hardware and software.
MOSA for GE-ER Inc. 2 has an exceptional return on investment for the Army. On the aircraft, MOSA will enable rapid integration of advanced payloads, communication equipment, along with Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) capabilities. This will reduce the sensor to shooter timelines, while simultaneously reducing the datalink bandwidth requirements in a contested environment, thus increasing range and resiliency. The ‘edge processing’ capability will maximize the utility of the Medium Altitude aircraft providing, in near real time, threat Detection, Identification, Location and Reporting (DILR) to the U.S. Army and Joint Force. Furthermore, the software components are being designed to be portable to other manned and unmanned aircraft systems the Army is developing, enhancing capability while reducing cost.
For the C2 suite on the ground, MOSA implementation will separate the Human Machine Interface (HMI) from the software business logic and will decrease the time associated with interfacing with evolving communication capability in the Joint and multi-national environment. This will allow the Army to tailor the HMI for each platform and minimize regression testing, a capability the Army has never had before. GA-ASI is currently testing the MOSA components on a simulator with plans to begin flight testing early next year, along with other industry and government partners selected by the U.S. Army.
General Atomics-Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI), an affiliate of General Atomics, is a leading designer and manufacturer of proven, reliable remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) systems, radars, and electro-optic and related mission systems, including the Predator® RPA series and the Lynx® Multi-mode Radar. With more than seven million flight hours, GA-ASI provides long-endurance, mission-capable aircraft with integrated sensor and data link systems required to deliver persistent flight that enables situational awareness and rapid strike. The company also produces a variety of ground control stations and sensor control/image analysis software, offers pilot training and support services, and develops meta-material antennas
Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA)
Alternate Definition
A MOSA, formerly known as Open Systems Architecture or Open Systems Approach, can be defined as a technical and business strategy for designing an affordable and adaptable system. A MOSA is the DoD preferred method for implementation of open systems, and it is required by US law. Title 10 USC 2446a.(b), states all Major Defense Acquisition Programs (MDAP) are to be designed and developed using a MOSA that -
- Employs a modular design that uses major system interfaces between a major system platform and a major system component, between major system components, or between major system platforms;
- Is subjected to verification to ensure major system interfaces comply with, if available and suitable, widely supported and consensus-based standards; and
- Uses a system architecture that allows severable major system components at the appropriate level to be incrementally added, removed, or replaced throughout the life cycle of a major system platform to afford opportunities for enhanced competition and innovation.
Alternate Definition Source
General Information
The DoD’s MOSA is to design systems with highly cohesive, loosely coupled, and severable modules that can be competed separately and acquired from independent vendors. This approach allows the Department to acquire warfighting capabilities, including systems, subsystems, software components, and services, with more flexibility and competition. MOSA implies the use of modular open systems architecture, a structure in which system interfaces share common, widely accepted standards, with which conformance can be verified.
DoD is actively pursuing MOSA in the life-cycle activities of its MDAP, in large part due to the rapid evolution in technology and threats that require much faster cycle time for fielding and modifying warfighting capabilities. As part of a comprehensive systems engineering strategy, MOSA can accelerate and simplify the incremental delivery of new capabilities into systems.
Thus DoD MOSA is an integrated business and technical strategy to achieve competitive and affordable acquisition and sustainment of a new or legacy system or component over the system life cycle.
MOSA Benefits
This approach integrates technical requirements with contracting mechanisms and legal considerations to support a more rapid evolution of capabilities and technologies throughout the product life cycle through the use of architecture modularity, open systems standards, and appropriate business practices. DoD seeks five primary benefits of MOSA:
- Significant cost saving or avoidance
- Schedule reduction and rapidly deploy new technology
- Opportunities for technical upgrades and technical refreshment (tech refresh)
- Interoperability, including system of systems interoperability and mission integration
- Other benefits during the sustainment phase of a major system
Program Planning
Program Managers (PM) are expected to plan for implementing MOSA and to include a summary of such planning as part of the Systems Engineering Plan (SEP) and the overall Acquisition Strategy. The summary of the MOSA planning should address the following three areas:
- How MOSA fits into a program's overall acquisition process and strategies for acquisition, technology development, and test and evaluation
- What steps a program will take to analyze, develop, and implement a system or a system-of-systems architecture based on MOSA principles
- How the program intends to monitor and assess its MOSA implementation progress and ensure system openness
MOSA Enabling Standards
MOSA enabling standards can best be described as widely accepted, supported and consensus based standards set by recognized standards organizations or the marketplace. These standards support interoperability, portability, and scalability and are equally available to the public under fair and reasonable license terms. The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) has determined continued implementation and further development of MOSA enabling standards are essential to the ability to rapidly share information across domains, with quick and affordable updates or improvements to both hardware and software components.
To prepare DoD for a MOSA future, OSD established the Modular Open Systems Working Group (MOSWG) and three MOSA Tiger Teams (Standards, Implementation Guidance, and Requirements & Programming Functions) to develop maturity assessments, deliver MOSA specific standards, conduct gap analysis, identify standard profiles, and deliver a MOSA Standards Needs Assessment. The three MOSA Tiger Teams were successful in meeting their objectives and have now been succeeded by a single standards tiger team that meets monthly. OSD will continue to work with standardization stakeholders, including DSP Office (DSPO) and the Departmental Standards Offices (DepSO), at these meetings to further identify MOSA enabling standards as they are developed.
No comments:
Post a Comment