Real-time communications for today’s warfighter

Built for the Ultimate Test

Lining up for a ground attack, the pilot of an F-35 juggles voice commands, warning tones, and visual displays while coordinating his bombing run with the commander of a combat team surrounded by the enemy. All the data he receives from outside sources such as the warriors on the ground or an AWACS in the sky, is delivered through ORBexpress. This software communications middleware is designed specifically for security-, safety- and performance-intensive real-time systems.

Hundreds of miles away, the radar operator on a 737 Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft is using his radar systems to keep watch for hostile aircraft that could be a threat. The multiple streams of data sent to the seven radar operators on board, and the orders they relay to the F-35 pilot and the troops on the ground, are also transmitted by ORBexpress.

And on the battlefield itself, the commander calling in the air strike on his Falcon III AN/PRC-152(C) military radio is using ORBexpress to simultaneously send voice commands and target data to both the F-35 and the airborne command post.

Sharing Data Seamlessly

On the battlefield, access to instant, secure and reliable information has always made the difference between winning and losing. Twenty-first century information processing and communications technology have given warfighters access to a flood of high-quality information earlier generations could only dream of. These different types of data are often generated, transmitted and processed by multiple, sometimes incompatible platforms, and may require different levels of security. Creating technology that assures timely delivery of data, while meeting military demands for reliability and security, requires significant investments. And while a warfighter’s need for quality information is infinite, military budgets are not.

Mission-Critical Middleware

That’s why leading military and aerospace contractors turn to ORBexpress as the communications middleware solution to carry this critical information quickly, securely and reliably across multiple networks, processors and systems. This advanced middleware is the trusted foundation for the software-defined radios (SDR) within the F-35’s Communications, Navigation and Identification (CNI) system, which simultaneously executes tasks such as friend-or-foe identification of approaching aircraft, automatic acquisition of fly-to points and secure multiwave, multiband, multimode wireless communications.

ORBexpress protects the CNI from attack by preventing any leakage of data that could be used by hackers to steal sensitive information or to disable or compromise the CNI itself. The Joint Strike Fighter program has chosen ORBexpress as the first, and only, middleware to be certified under the Common Criteria, the world’s most widely adopted security certification standard. This certification involves a rigorous examination of the middleware code, development processes and a wide range of penetration tests to assure the highest levels of performance and security under the most demanding conditions.

Defense programs including the Longbow Apache Helicopter, the Aegis shipboard combat control system, the THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) program, the Multi Mission Helicopter, the Boeing Wedgetail AEW&C (Airborne Early Warning and Control) aircraft and the U.S. Joint Tactical Radio System choose ORBexpress as there trusted communications foundation.

ORBexpress for Business

What does this mean to you? You can build your next system faster and better by relying on the communications middleware trusted to work fast and seamlessly across an entire battlefield. You focus on building the best application for your system, leaving the complex communications integration to the field-proven capabilities of ORBexpress. And if you need to have your system certified or accredited, you should benefit from a quicker certification/accreditation process because ORBexpress has already been evaluated through the rigorous Common Criteria certification process.