DO-178C helps to make flying safer. This standard defines the software planning, development, verification, quality assurance and configuration management process. DO-178C went into effect in 2013. It was preceded by Document 178B (DO-178B). The update became necessary after concerns developed over the meaning of verification in a model-based development paradigm and considerations for replacing some or […]

MIL-STD-1760 Aircraft/Store Electrical Interconnection System defines a standardized electrical interface between a military aircraft and its carriage stores. Carriage stores range from weapons to drop tanks such as GBU-31 JDAM to pods and AN/AAQ-14 LANTIRN to drop tanks. Before adoption and widespread use of MIL-STD-1760, new store types were added to aircraft using dissimilar, proprietary interfaces. […]

Link 16 is an encrypted, jam-resistant Tactical Data Link (TDL) network used by U.S. and NATO Allies to create situational awareness among dispersed battle elements by sharing information over a common communication link. Link 16 enables the command and control centers to create Common Operating Pictures (COP), which allows friendly forces to electronically observe the battlespace, identify threats, and […]

With their expensive aircraft, crowds of passengers and databases of user data, airports are a prime target for the world’s criminals. While there are many similarities between cybersecurity practices in aviation and cybersecurity practices in other industries, professionals in aviation face unique challenges. For the aviation industry, digitalization of operations presents airports and airlines alike […]

Aerospace includes atmospheric and space flight and equipment such as rockets, satellites and planes. An aerospace systems engineer handles aerospace hardware and software systems.  Like so many other areas of technology, new aerospace technologies are also emerging. One of these areas involves zero-fuel aircraft. Zero-fuel aircraft use photovoltaic panels to utilize solar energy to provide necessary thrust to the engines. The […]

Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) is the interception of signals for the purpose of gathering intelligence. SIGINT is commonly grouped into three sub-disciplines: Communications Intelligence (COMINT) — The interception of communication between people and groups Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) — The intercepting of electronic signals which are not specifically used for communication Foreign Instrumentation Signals Intelligence (FISINT) — […]

Many companies, particularly those in aerospace, telecommunications, defense and automotive, have switched over to SysML (Systems Modeling Language). SysML is a general-purpose modeling language for systems engineering applications. It supports the specification, analysis, design, verification and validation of a broad range of systems and systems-of-systems. Both the definition and maintenance of SysML is overseen by […]

DevSecOps (development, security and operations ) is the philosophy of integrating security practices within the DevOps process. DevSecOps involves creating a “Security as Code” culture with ongoing, flexible collaboration between release engineers and security teams. Many view DevSecOps as an important response to the bottleneck effect of older security models of past development pipelines. The […]

MBSE (model based systems engineering) is a key enabling technology for Systems Engineers who seek to transition from traditional Systems Engineering processes that are document-based and code-centric to more efficient and effective processes that are model-driven. MBSE seeks to reduce rework and errors through the use of a central model that is accessible to all those […]