The Army is making tank upgrades as simple as switching video game cartridges
Nathan Strout
May 11 at 5:06 PM
WASHINGTON — It’s not easy to upgrade tanks.
They’re more than guns on treads. They rely on a series of networked capabilities: GPS receivers that tell operators where they are, radios to communicate with others, and sensors to detect and identify potential threats.
Effectively, each of those capabilities or any upgrade requires a custom installation to ensure the system — and all of its enabling technologies — fits and works with the other computerized equipment on the tank.
But the Army C5ISR Center expects its open standards project to transform upgrades and save significant money over platforms’ lifetimes. The C4ISR/EW Modular Open Suite of Standards approach — or CMOSS — would make replacing or updating capabilities as simple as plugging in a new VPX card — a rugged, standard chip about 1-inch big that’s used for defense applications.
https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/2021/05/11/the-army-is-making-tank-upgrades-as-simple-as-switching-video-game-cartridges/
