On-the-go SATCOM modem suits defence & commercial use

Working closely with Hughes, Kontron engineers customized the COBALT 901 chassis to accommodate the HM200 board subsystem, and the front panel was modified to provide specialized antenna connectors. The result is a small, lightweight, Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS), and  Beyond-Line-Of-Sight (BLOS) SATCOM solution that is suitable for a large variety of airborne applications.

The package demonstrates the flexibility of the COBALT-series platforms. The standard COBALT 901 offers an Intel Core i7 dual-core processor/carrier board combination with a 28V power supply chain providing aviation-grade filtering and power hold-up capabilities, and a substantial array of front-panel I/O.

“Kontron’s COBALT system brings to Hughes a scalable integrated building block architecture for rugged airborne applications that can be readily installed in a wide range of manned and unmanned, fixed or rotary wing platforms.” said Wayne Marhefka, Senior Director, Business Development, Hughes Defense and Intelligence Systems. “Leveraging the COBALT platform enables us to design solutions for long term flexibility, meeting the extensive scope of today’s I/O and network communications requirements.”

“We highly value our partnership with Hughes,” said Gary Eaton, Global Head of Business Line Defense at Kontron. ”Their leadership position aligns well with Kontron’s priorities in serving this growing and evolving arena.  Our goal is to provide Hughes with a competitive advantage, enabling the development of sophisticated systems reducing long-term costs and development resources for their customers.