ST Engineering and Ultra develop new vehicle architecture

A graphic illustrating the provision of a GVA through the combination of the VICS and PGI and the consequent integration of subsystems and dismounted soldiers. (ST Engineering)

ST Engineering and Ultra Precision Control Systems (PCS) have formed a partnership to market a new commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) electronic vehicle architecture, which will be launched at the DSEI 2023 exhibition in London.

Chua Jin Kiat, head of international defence business for ST Engineering, told Janes that the partnership had developed as part of ST Engineering's plans to grow its global presence and expand its share of the international market. He observed that the UK defence market was more open to international involvement compared with some others.

Chua said ST Engineering's aim was to grow partnerships that combine ST Engineering and UK technology with UK manufacturing capability. He added that a presence in the UK, as a “strong NATO member”, could also offer a bridge to other NATO countries' defence markets.

The Electronic Architecture Kit (EAK), which will be marketed by Ultra, is based on ST Engineering's Vehicular Integrated Communications System (VICS) and Ultra's Platform Gateway Interface (PGI), which together provide a generic vehicle architecture (GVA) compliant system. The VICS is a dual ethernet ring Internet Protocol (IP) backbone that can carry link-local network (LLN) voice, data, and video. The PGI provides software, hosted on the VICS network, which fully implements GVA standards.