AUSA 2024: Leonardo DRS touts solution for CMFF programme

A soldier uses a Leonardo DRS MFoCS. The US Army wants to replace this federated system with the ‘plug-and-configure' capabilities of the CMFF. (Leonardo DRS)

The US Army is seeking a new platform to integrate radio, navigation, and other capabilities on its ground vehicles more easily. Leonardo DRS, which supplies the Mounted Family of Computer Systems (MFoCS) that currently equips army vehicles, is competing for the C5ISR (command, control, communications, computers, cyber, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance) Modular Open Suite of Standards (CMOSS) Mounted Form Factor (CMFF) programme as the prime contractor and systems integrator. The project objective is to move from discrete boxes within vehicles into a “consolidated chassis that uses card swapping that will do the work that previously was controlled by a box”, Michael Stucki, director of business development for Leonardo DRS Land Electronics division, told Janes in early October ahead of the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) 2024 conference in Washington, DC.

The army has two priorities for the programme. The first is rapid technology insertion, enabling the system to accept new, upgraded card capabilities as they are developed. The second is avoiding vendor lock. Another goal is to reduce integration kits and cabling within vehicles, which adds cost to implementing radio, navigation, and other capabilities, Stucki said.

The service has specified a size constraint within the 3U VPX international standard for processing cards to fit a specific space in vehicles, which is essentially a 16×9×9 inch box that has been designated as the CMFF, Stucki said.