Defense platforms have traditionally been hardware-defined, with capabilities largely set during design and upgraded through costly modernization programs. Software-defined architectures allow new functions to be deployed throughout a platform’s life without necessarily replacing its hardware.
Open systems, modern software practices, and lessons from automotive are accelerating the shift. How well the sector adapts its architectures, and assurance models will shape how quickly it can respond to evolving requirements.
In this Technology Insight, five leading experts examine progress toward software-defined defense, the barriers to adoption, and how it could transform military capability over the next ten years.
Key questions explored:
- How far has the defense sector progressed toward software-defined platforms, and where is the shift delivering real operational value today?
- What are the most significant technical, organizational, and regulatory barriers to software-defined defense, and which will prove hardest to overcome?
- Which software architectures and engineering approaches best enable faster development, integration, and upgrades of defense systems?
- How must testing, certification, and cybersecurity evolve to enable continuous software updates while maintaining the safety, security, and reliability of defense systems?
- Looking ten years ahead, how will advances in software architectures, AI, and computing reshape the way defense capabilities are developed, deployed, and sustained?