CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., 28 Sept. 2011. Officials at Argon ST of Fairfax, Va., needed single-board computers for the company’s Ships Signal Exploitation Equipment (SSEE) system. They found their solution at GE Intelligent Platforms in Charlottesville, Va. GE Intelligent Platforms gained an initial order, valued at more than $1 million, for specially modified VR12 rugged 6U VME platform single-board computers featuring the Intel Core i7 processor. The company anticipates additional orders, totaling $5 million, in the coming years as the VR12 infuses the signals intelligence (SIGINT) subsystem with critical data-acquisition capabilities.
“Increasingly, in times when budgets are severely constrained, companies in the defense industry are looking to drive risk to the absolute minimum,” says Jay Swenson, director of business development at GE Intelligent Platforms. “The implication of that is that they are choosing COTS–or modified COTS, as in this case—solutions rather than solutions developed in-house, and they are acquiring them from suppliers like GE who have the stability and maturity necessary to ensure long term availability and support.“
SSEE, compatible with a variety of ship classes, enables operators to monitor and analyze signals of interest within the ship's Signals Exploitation Space (SSES).
