Navy promotes latest hardware open architecture technical standard

The Air Combat Electronics program office’s (PMA-209) Avionics Architecture Team (AAT) recently participated in the Embedded Tech Trends media forum in Chandler, Arizona, to promote the completion of the Hardware Open Systems Technology (HOST) 5.0 technical standard. The AAT members represented NAVAIR on a panel, where they discussed the importance of HOST for the defense industry.

The defense industry faces significant challenges related to the obsolescence of electronic components. Programs can run for years longer than expected, and this creates problems when electronic components become outdated. To address this issue, HOST provides a standardized framework that can be used during component design, production, and redesigns of fielded aircraft to facilitate modularity and interoperability.

Capt. Margaret Wilson, PMA-209 program manager, highlighted the importance of keeping partners up-to-date on Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) practices, which are critical to the overall success of Open Architecture in NAVAIR. She noted that MOSA progress, such as the newly completed HOST 5.0 standard, will allow NAVAIR programs to save money on embedded technologies and allow the industry to expand potential work across the enterprise.

HOST is an open technical standard that enables an objective way to realize the MOSA initiative goals, and lays out requirements that a program manager or integrator can leverage to create a verifiably open system. By following the HOST’s open system requirements, the tenets of modularity, interoperability, and upgradeability are capable of a high degree of confidence. The latest HOST technical standard, HOST 5.0, was completed in October 2022 and is scheduled to be released in 2023.

Lt. Cmdr. Ryan Camasso, PMA-209 AAT team lead, said that the HOST 5.0 standard is a major step forward for NAVAIR hardware open system technology. He and Sean McCormick, the AAT lead systems engineer, appreciated the opportunity to speak with industry partners to continue to progress MOSA solutions forward, and they are excited to keep pushing the limits of what MOSA strategies can provide to the military acquisition process.

The Embedded Tech Trends forum is held annually, where suppliers of component, board and system-level solutions, and government representatives can meet exclusively with members of relevant industry media to discuss technologies, trends, and products.

PMA-209 is a collaborative team of proactive acquisition professionals that enable current and future foundational aviation requirements led by Capt. Margaret Wilson, PMA-209 program manager. Established in 1988, PMA-209 is responsible for providing critical capabilities to the warfighter in the form of common, fully developed, supportable, and reliable systems that align with the strategic and operational requirements of our platform PEO and PMA customers.