Crane experts are finding that many of the standards for signal processing in commercial applications like the medical field work for the military as well, he explains. However, custom electronics will never have the stature they once held because of the growth of commercial standards and superior commercial technology, Benninger explains. If a systems integrator needs a sonar system for torpedo detection, "you won't find it at the same place you buy your bass boat," Benninger quips. There will always be a place for custom designs because of the unique nature of military systems, says Glenn Benninger, senior engineer, DSP technologist, commercial technology support branch of the Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division in Crane, Ind. An off-the-shelf device would not last in that type of extreme heat, he points out. The COTS device is in a relativity benign environment, while the custom module is where the temperatures get extremely hot, Eddins explains. Their customer used them in different parts of the missile, he continues. Lambda engineers currently offer a MIL-VME-28 270 volts custom power supply for mission-critical military applications.įor one missile application, Lambda supplied two modules - one custom and one COTS, Eddins says. The more flight- and mission-critical the application the more the customer still wants custom electronics, he adds.Ībout 60 percent of the power supply modules that Lambda engineers produce today are custom designs the rest are COTS, Eddins says. "We still have a lot of request for full-custom designs," says Rick Eddins, marketing manager at Lambda Novatronics in Pompano Beach, Fla. This is distinct from a semi-custom or value-added COTS approach, where designers choose a product off-the-shelf, but tweak it especially for certain applications. The equipment simply must work, and COTS does not always do the trick despite protective packaging.Ī custom product can be anything the government pays a company to develop from the ground up. Often, therefore, defense engineers custom-design mission-critical systems with custom components. Nor would the government want that, because such wide availability of mission-critical components would enable friends and enemies alike to buy them and figure out a way to counter them. The advantages to using COTS equipment are many - superior processing performance, user-friendly software, a plethora of industry-accepted standards, quick time to market, and affordability.ĭespite these advantages, however, the average person still cannot walk into CompUSA and buy an electronic warfare (EW) suite for his Jeep Cherokee. They know that the American people will not accept any more $400 hammers. Prime contractors are finding that they must be politically conscious and develop roadmaps and long-term strategies that focus on increasing their use of COTS, so they can curry favor with the U.S. #F 22 raptor pc game system requirements driver#The modern military, no longer the driver in electronics technology and facing ever-tighter budget constraints, must follow the commercial market and use commercial-off-the-shelf parts wherever and whenever possible. #F 22 raptor pc game system requirements software#Click here to enlarge imageĬustom hardware and software no longer have the kind of lead role in military systems that they had in years past. The Sanders F-22 Electronic Warfare team designed the Block 3S software for electronic warfare functions on the U.S. Military designers recognize that commercial-off-the-shelf electronics are more widely available and less expensive than custom-designed and mil-spec components,yet mission-critical and electronic warfare systems still need the extras that can only come from custom designs
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