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.