Software Defined Vehicle (SDV) / Decoupled Crew Stations (DCS)

The Software Defined Vehicle (SDV) project is an ongoing TRL 3-4 R&D initiative focused on enhancing the Electronic Architecture (EA) designs of future military land platforms (crewed / uncrewed, operated / managed / automated / autonomous). By optimizing the hardware, software, and networking infrastructures, the project seeks to develop a highly functional yet simplified platform EA that seamlessly integrates software-defined capabilities to inherently support and enable a Military Capability-as-a-Service (MCaaS) operational model.

Our SDV design approach prioritises cost-effective and agile integration of new functionalities, updates, and upgrades through intelligently designed software integrated within our purpose-designed EA, enabling military platforms to rapidly adapt to evolving operational requirements and threats. By adopting seamless software-based enhancements, we ensure that military platforms remain technologically advanced and capable in dynamic environments.

Our SDV design also allows the seamless integration of new generic hardware computing modules as and when necessary. This simplified the platform through-life updates and upgrades, and the on-demand customisation for new mission requirements.

Primary Operational Objectives

  • Increase crew and platform survivability.
  • Increase platform tasks intelligent management and automation.
  • Increase platform capabilities, reduce crew numbers, improve remote & autonomous operation.
  • Maximise utilisation of platform computing resources.
  • Reduce crew workload, cognitive burden, and training times.
  • Reduce platform development & deployment time and though-life costs.

Key Electronic Architecture Design Characteristics

  • Distributed Edge Computing: Distributed and modularised abstract computing (processing, communication, storage).
  • Realtime : Ultra Low Latency computing (processing, communication, storage).
  • Modular: Fine-grained modular hardware and software components, with integrated plug-configure-and-play capability.
  • SaaS: Inherent support for “App Based” Military Capability-as-a-Service (MCaaS).
  • Intelligent Data Model: Internal and external inherent integration of Object Oriented Data Model for information representation, communication, and processing.
  • Software Defined Networking: Runtime reconfigurable network communication layers.
  • Safety: Low-level and inherent integration of Modular Safety Cases.
  • Security: Low-level and inherent integration of encryption, authentication, and intrusion detection algorithms.

Decoupled Crew Station (DCS)

The SDV project incorporates a secondary R&D initiative, the “Decoupled Crew Station” (DCS) project. DCS investigates the EA design of military platforms with a generic and modular separation between the crew compartment (Crew Station Module), the core platform module (Base Module), and the mission-specific module (Mission Module).

The primary objective of the DCS EA design is to create a plug-configure-and-play EA infrastructure that enables seamless swapping of Platform Modules without requiring significant redesign or reconfiguration of any of the Platform Modules. This modular approach enhances the adaptability and effectiveness of crewed vehicles in various operational scenarios, allowing for rapid integration of new capabilities and upgrades.

By decoupling the Crew Station, Base, and Mission Modules, the DCS project aims to deliver a highly flexible and adaptable platform EA design solution that can be tailored to meet the unique requirements of diverse military operations. This modular design allows for easy customisation, enabling the platform to adapt to various operational scenarios, and streamlines maintenance and repair tasks as individual modules can be replaced or upgraded as standalone blocks.


Updated 2024/06/15