News
August 26, 2025
Technology Editor
Military Embedded Systems
Staff image (logo via SOSA)
NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland. The defense industry’s adoption of the Sensor Open Systems Architecture, or SOSA, Technical Standard continues to gain momentum in 2025, with a surge in SOSA aligned hardware, software, and reference architecture updates shaping programs across the services, according to announcements from industry and the SOSA Consortium so far this year.
One key development was the June release of SOSA Reference Architecture, Edition 2.0, Snapshot 3, which introduced expanded hardware-acceleration support, space-specific profiles, and a directed-energy appendix. These updates emphasize interoperability across domains, including space, and strengthen standardization for new mission sets, the SOSA Consortium states.
Hardware innovation also accelerated. Multiple vendors — including EIZO Rugged Solutions, Ametek Abaco Systems, 7STARLAKE, WOLF, and Concurrent — launched 3U OpenVPX graphics and GPGPU cards powered by NVIDIA’s latest architectures, supporting AI-driven processing for C5ISR, sensor fusion, and electronic warfare (EW). Companies like Pixus Technologies introduced new ATR enclosures, carrier boards, and 100GbE-capable backplanes aligned to SOSA, while 7STARLAKE added liquid-cooled VPX systems for thermal-heavy applications.
Principles of SOSA are increasingly evident in major contracts. Earlier this year, Pacific Defense secured multiple awards to deliver EW systems aligned with SOSA, leveraging open RF interfaces under MORA and modular designs under CMOSS. These efforts aim to integrate AI/ML-enabled signal processing and multifunction EW on open hardware platforms.
With open standards becoming a foundation for modernization, many of these advancements will be featured at the MOSA Industry & Government Summit, to be held Aug. 27-29 at National Harbor, Maryland, where interoperability and rapid technology insertion remain central themes.