Rugged Computing Power for Small Platforms

Sensor-based imaging systems generate invaluable information for modern warfare, but a serious challenge exists to the timely use of that information. Data links that provide the transmission backbone from the sensor platform to the ground station lack the necessary bandwidth. Improvements in data communications will not be sufficient to meet the challenge, because the next generation of defense electronics systems will include new sensors. Hyperspectral imaging (HSI) and laser radar (LADAR) will augment, but not replace, the electrooptic infrared (EO/IR) and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors currently used today. As data links increase in bandwidth, they continue to lag behind the breadth and depth of new, sophisticated sensors.