Innovative Operating Software

With the proliferation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in all aspects of the service comes the proportional increase in efforts of enemies to attack these systems through the process of exploitation of UAS vulnerabilities, subversion or infection of the target platform, with subsequent loss of resources and/or data. Consequences of these losses will be significant in any given tactical scenario, but the overall loss of reliable and secure use of UAS platforms to carry out missions is a significant risk that spans all missions. Protection of the UAS resource, through methods that themselves are invulnerable to attack, is a crucial capability that is needed as soon as it can be deployed.The need for defense from cyber-attack of control systems is not limited to UAS applications. As automated systems become more capable, and more accessible to open networks, they become more vulnerable. Applying the protections and rectifications described in this proposal to a wide array of systems used in NAVAIR programs increases security while minimizing cost and schedule impacts. There is an immediate need to protect these valuable assets, a need that cannot be met by individually designing and developing solutions.