Cold Response is a long-planned exercise bringing together around 30,000 soldiers from 27 NATO Allies and their partner nations to test their ability to work in cold weather conditions. This year’s large-scale edition has started on 14 March and will continue to 1 April 2022 across Norway.

(Image: Jacqueline C. Arre / Armed Force Marine)

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Evaluating and comparing rugged commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products and COTS-based solutions can be confusing. Although military ruggedization standards make the process easier, the techniques and methodologies used to ensure ruggedness and reliability can differ from one vendor to another.

While researching the many different rugged computers and servers on the market, you may encounter three categories of ruggedization: semi-rugged, fully rugged and ultra-rugged. In this article we’ll cover what each of these categories mean, and why it’s important to know the difference. 

What qualifies as rugged design?

Rugged computing devices (whether semi-rugged or fully-rugged) are built for use away from air-conditioned indoor areas. They’re built for a longer life cycle than an enterprise or consumer-grade machine, which means breakdowns and damage are less frequent. 

A truly rugged device will have at least two forms of certification. One is Military Standard (MIL-STD), which proves the device has undergone a series of stress tests originally devised for military equipment. The other is IP-rating, which verifies water- and dust-proofing.

If you’re looking for a device with legitimate rugged design – one that will perform in many different environments, such as high humidity, high or low temperatures, vibration, mechanical shock etc. then certifications are the golden ticket of ruggedization. They are what make a rugged computer truly rugged.

When would you use a rugged device?

A rugged device could be used by the military to support mission-critical weapons, radar and communications systems, or by industries to support assembly line automation and to collect field data. Rugged computers are used in a variety of industries, including defense, space, aviation, aerospace, big data, industrial automation, health care, entertainment, agriculture, energy and telecommunications. Any program or application that requires durability and powerful performance can benefit from the introduction of a rugged computer or device. 

Semi-Rugged, Fully Rugged and Ultra-Rugged: What’s the difference?

First, we want to highlight that these categories are not standardized by any organizational body. A device that one rugged computer hardware manufacturer says is fully rugged may be considered semi-rugged or even ultra-rugged by another. The below explanations are definitions based on how the industry commonly uses these terms.

Semi-rugged devices

Semi-rugged laptops are designed for professionals who need an office-style computer with a full keyboard, but who spend their day in a hard-hat or non-office environment where safety and climate control isn’t guaranteed (on a building site for example). 

Industries that commonly use semi-rugged laptops include automotive, manufacturing, law enforcement, and certain utilities, but in truth, any industry or enterprise where physical risks to your device are not trivial, or where mobile connectivity and information security must always be maintained, or where you might need your laptop to run on battery power for a full shift or longer, would be better served by a semi-rugged than a consumer or business-grade device. It’s helpful to think of a semi-rugged device as a COTS computer with limited rugged features.

Semi-rugged devices are typically equipped with a few parts that have undergone stress testing or certification to military and industrial standards. For instance, a semi-rugged device may have a hard drive that’s resistant to mechanical shock, or an outer covering that can withstand some rain.

Fully rugged devices 

Fully rugged devices are commonly seen supporting military and industrial applications in riskier environments than the semi-rugged device. Simply put, they’re more durable than a semi-rugged device but less ruggedized than the specialized ultra-rugged device.

Depending on their certifications, fully rugged devices can be dropped, impacted, exposed to extremely high or low temperatures, withstand high levels of humidity, endure heavy rain and direct sunlight exposure for prolonged periods, and the list goes on.

An example of a fully rugged device is a military computer or a rugged blade server and its electronic components. Fully rugged devices won’t suffer from a performance decline in extreme environments. This makes them ideal for mission-critical applications, which require continuous operation.

Ultra-rugged devices 

Ultra-rugged devices are a little pricier than fully rugged devices. This is because they are near indestructible. They’re designed to endure the harshest conditions the world has to offer.

Ultra-rugged device often refers to a fanless, sealed, conformal-coated device, one that could even survive being submerged in water.

For a device to be considered “ultra-rugged” it must be stress-tested beyond the requirements of the semi-rugged and fully rugged devices. If you’re looking for a device that can be literally frozen, left out in the desert sun, or dropped from three feet onto a cement floor, the ultra-rugged device is the right choice.

Expando AB specializes in fully rugged servers, rugged mission computers, rugged servers, routers and switches. We act as representative or distributor for first class suppliers and our aim is to be your long term reliable partner. To discuss your rugged server needs with us get in touch.

NASA is preparing to launch a space telescope that will see further into the Universe than anything else ever built. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), named after James E Webb, the Nasa boss who oversaw the Apollo Moon-landing project, has taken 30 years and £7.5bn to develop. It is being described as one of the grand scientific endeavors of the 21st Century.

Revolutionize our understanding of distant planets 

What we can achieve with the James Webb Telescope

The James Webb Space Telescope, a joint collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency, is set to be the most powerful space telescope ever. We will be able to see just about anything in the sky. It has one overriding objective – to see the light coming from the very first stars to shine in the Universe. These pioneer stars are thought to have switched on about 100-200 million years after the Big Bang, or a little over 13.5 billion years ago.

Webb will be picking out groupings of these stars. They are so far away, their light – even though it moves at 300,000km (186,000 miles) per second – will have taken billions of years to travel the cosmos. Webb is the first telescope to be able to see (or at least detect a faint glow from) the moment when the darkness ended and those first stars flickered into life.

Why we want to see further than ever before 

When the Universe was formed in the Big Bang, it contained only three chemical elements – hydrogen, helium and a smattering of lithium. Every other chemical element – including those vital to life, such as carbon and oxygen – had to be forged, or “manufactured”, by nuclear reactions at the center of stars.

This telescope will help us understand the origins of everything we see around us, and even more than that – how we came to be.

How does the James Webb Telescope differ from existing space telescopes?

It’s much bigger than the Hubble telescope, which has been orbiting Earth since 1990 collecting light using a main mirror that’s 2.4m across. Webb has a primary mirror that’s a staggering 6.5m in diameter. And with all the other associated equipment, Webb is almost the size of a tennis court. It’s so big, in fact, it has to be folded to fit inside its launch rocket. 

Apart from its size, one key aspect of Webb is that it is tuned to detect light that Hubble simply cannot. This light is invisible to the human eye, but it’s the type of light in which the glow from the most distant objects in the Universe will show up.

How does the Telescope actually work?

The telescope is basically an instrument that is extremely sensitive to the infrared light emerging from the farthest corners of our universe. A light beam becomes infrared when its wavelength gets stretched as it travels for billions of years and billions of light-years. The Webb telescope will gather these infrared wavelengths, break down their properties and squeeze out any and every information stored in them about their origin and the environment they traveled through in many years.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has a shiny giant mirror made of gold hexagons – here’s why

Have you seen images online of a giant, golden honeycomb poised to launch into space? That’s the iconic mirror that will allow the James Webb Space Telescope to study corners of the cosmos that we’ve never before seen.

Aside from its hexagonal shape and enormous size, Webb’s most distinctive feature is probably its shiny, gold mirror. The mirror is made up of 18 smaller mirrors that together allow mission teams to use the scope to measure light from extremely distant galaxies, billions of light-years away. Fun fact about these gold mirrors – they are said to reflect 98% of incoming photons and are painted gold 

Now, while Webb’s mirror segments are coated in gold, they are not made of solid gold. They are actually constructed from beryllium, a strong but lightweight metal. Each mirror piece weighs about 46 pounds (20 kilograms) on Earth. In addition to being extremely durable while comparably lightweight, beryllium can also hold its shape at the extreme cold temperatures that Webb will need to operate at, according to a NASA statement. 

When will it launch?

After many delays, Webb is scheduled to go into orbit on christmas eve, 24 December 2021. It will be launched on a European Ariane-5 rocket from French Guiana. The European Space Agency is a partner on the project, and has agreed to take on the responsibility of getting Webb into space.

Expando inspired by the James Webb Space Telescope

In order to carry out this mission, several innovative and powerful new technologies have been developed. The James Webb Telescope will have a unique and profound role in transforming our understanding of astrophysics and the origins of galaxies, stars, and planetary systems. As a company that operates at the heart of innovation in the defense and aerospace industries, we understand how essential these developments are to maintaining our technological edge and security. This project has been exciting to follow and we look forward to the launch which is the key to expanding our knowledge of the universe. 

Expando provides advanced systems and services for commercial, military and government customers worldwide. With 20 years of experience, we have a broad portfolio that allows us to deliver high quality specialized solutions and space qualified components that push the boundaries in different environments, such as space, aerospace, defense, industrial and commercial avionics. 

Expando AB is a regional expert offering planetary defence components and integration projects. We act as representative or distributor for first class suppliers and our aim is to be your long term reliable partner. Contact us to discuss your future projects at info@expando.se or call us at +46 (0)8-544 900 44. 

It’s official! After all our hard work we’ve been awarded the prestigious ISO 14001:2015 accreditation. In order to achieve this globally recognised award, we have evidenced our quality management systems, while having a strong focus on sustainable development initiatives.

What are ISO certifications and why are they important?

ISO certifications are a seal of approval from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) body that acknowledges a company is run to one of their developed and published international standards.

The ISO is an independent, non-governmental international organization who bring experts together to share knowledge and develop standards that support innovation and provide solutions to global challenges.

What is ISO 14001:2015?

ISO 14001:2015 is the International Standard for Environmental Management Systems (EMS), and was designed to help businesses and other organizations to reduce their environmental impact.

Protecting the environment is an important business issue. Many organizations now require suppliers to have specific environmental management plans. Implementing ISO 14001:2015 helps us to demonstrate to you, our customers and stakeholders that our business is committed to reducing our environmental impact.

The ISO 14001:2015 standard provides us with an internationally recognised certificate that demonstrates our pledge to reducing waste, improving our resource efficiency, as well as cutting our waste management costs.

ISO 14001:2015 is also the most important standard in the ISO 14000 series of environmental management standards that have been developed to recognise companies that are committed to reducing their environmental impact. 

Essentially, our ISO certifications demonstrate that we have robust, clearly defined procedures in place in all our business areas. 

“Our decision to work towards ISO accreditation demonstrates our promise to providing high-quality, trusted services to our partners, and our ongoing commitment to developing our ethical management systems” – Otto Johnsson, Managing Director, Expando AB.

Why ISO accreditations are important for our customers and our potential customers

ISO accreditations are important as they demonstrate the quality of service Expando provides. Investing in a new product or service, often from a company that you have not worked with previously can be unnerving. The ISO certificate is a testimony of trust, that demonstrates our commitment to you.

Now that we’re officially ISO accredited, we can proudly state that Expando operates with both quality and transparency in everything we do (as we did before being awarded this prestigious certification).

At Expando we integrate the promise and guarantee of quality in our daily work and continuously challenge ourselves to improve our quality management systems to provide services that exceed the expectations of our customers.

Expando is also ISO 9001:2015 certified

Our ISO certifications mark confirms that our business conforms with certified international practices to ensure that Expando is a reliable and highly trustworthy service provider. ISO 9001:2015 is the internationally recognised Standard for Quality Management and is used by over 1 million companies. This certification was created to give organizations such as ours an internationally recognised award that proves we’re dedicated to reducing costs and improving productivity.

ISO 9001:2015 certification also provides our customers with assurance that they will receive consistent, quality products and services. Something that we at Expando take great pride in. 

How ISO 9001:2015 helps us

ISO 9001:2015 contains a set of Quality Principles, which include – customer focus, leadership, engagement of people, process approach, continual improvement, evidence-based decision making, and relationship management.

ISO 9001 is perfect for organizations of all sizes, who are looking to improve quality and consistently meet their customer’s requirements.

Some benefits of ISO 9001

ISO 9001 Certification helps our organization ensure we are always increasing and working towards an increased efficiency, have a data -based approach to decision making, excellent supplier relationships, improved customer satisfaction. And all of this we find leads to greater employee morale overall.

Expando AB is a regional expert offering planetary defence components and integration projects. We act as representative or distributor for first class suppliers and our aim is to be your long term reliable partner. 

Contact us to discuss your future projects at info@expando.se or call us at +46 (0)8-544 900 44. 

We’re seeing a focus on modernization of shipboard systems – which require more rugged, embedded-computing systems processing – as well as rugged, state-of-the-art displays.

Sweden begins high tech Visby II Class Corvette program

Sweden’s Defense Materiel Administration (FMV) has begun work on what will be four new battleships to be called Visby Generation II.

In January, Saab and FMV signed two agreements valued $23 million (190m SEK) to work on Visby-class corvette upgrades and acquisition of the next-generation of these ships. The contracts cover the Product Definition Phase for the Mid-Life Upgrades (MLU) of five Visby-class corvettes, as well as a Product Definition Phase for the next generation; Visby Generation 2 corvettes. 

What do the needs of the future look like? The need for more vessels in the water has been established by both the Riksdag’s Defense Committee and by the Chief of the Navy, Ewa Skoog Haslum. But what challenges will these ships face? What tasks should they solve? And how should they be designed and equipped? It’s important to look 30-40 years ahead.

In addition to modifying the ships’ existing systems, an air defense missile system will be added as a new capability. The RBS15 anti-ship missile system will be upgraded to the latest version as well as the torpedo system with the new Saab Lightweight Torpedo.

Contact us for sales, service and support of electronic components and system products. Most are Commercial-off-the shelf (COTS) products.

Driving demand for rugged mobile computers

Today’s warfighter operates in remote, environmentally hostile and actively contested regions. Distanced from normal IT infrastructure. Their situation necessitates processing big data on-site or at the “tactical edge”. Tactical edge devices can be found on drones, aircraft, land vehicles and maritime vessels. On these platforms, hardware constraints such as size, weight and power (SWaP) and extreme environmental conditions must be taken into consideration. 

Industry innovators like us are accomplishing breakthroughs with COTS solutions to tackle specialised problems in military systems that must operate in extreme conditions. The performance of electronic devices can be damaged in harsh environments such as extreme temperatures, high humidity levels, electrostatic discharge, electromagnetic interference, vibrations and shock.By using off-the-shelf components, manufacturers can merge affordable, proven technology into proprietary designs that can withstand the conditions of the modern battle whether it be on land, air or at sea. 

Like SWaP, another significant rugged mobile computing trend is doing more with less. Not surprising as this is what drives the entire civilian industry and directly affects the defense industry’s demand for technology.

For example, combining a weapons system computer with the mission planning console such that the operator’s control console displays targets and friendly forces on a moving map. That same computer also calculates the fire control solution and/or aims a weapons array or computes the most efficient travel route while sending all that data up or down the chain of command on a secured, tactical local area network (LAN) or satellite communications (SATCOM). 

Expando is the leading supplier in the rugged servers product category

We provide advanced systems and services for commercial, military and government customers worldwide. We provide electronic networking technologies that perform with high reliability when used in the most rugged places. 

We collaborate with leading manufacturers whose engineers consider every specific environmental condition of the design and development that can affect the use of the product. You can get to know which suppliers we work with within the rugged mission computers, servers, routers and switched product segment here. 

Expando AB is a regional expert offering planetary defence components and integration projects. We act as representative or distributor for first class suppliers and our aim is to be your long term reliable partner. Contact us to discuss your future projects at info@expando.se or call us at +46 (0)8-544 900 44.

Approximately 2,200 people will participate in Sweden’s largest naval exercise SWENEX-21, which runs for ten days and is organized off the southeast coast of Sweden.

(Image: Michaela Linge / the Swedish Armed Forces)

About SWENEX-21

SWENEX-21 is a Swedish naval exercise that the Swedish Air Force, the Coast Guard, and the Finnish Navy are all taking part in. This exercise is aimed at strengthening the Swedish defense capabilities in Sweden and the surrounding area.

By practicing, we maintain our preparedness and can act quickly if something unforeseen happens in our immediate area. The navy is constantly ready for action. Together with other armed forces and authorities, SWENEX-21 contributes to creating stability and security in the Baltic Sea region.

Finland is an integral part of the air defense of Sweden as part of the in-depth defense cooperation. This helps us to build security together and at the same time increases the Swedish operational capability in line with the government’s mission.

The SWENEX-21 training will take place primarily in the southern Baltic Sea and Hanö Bay. Approximately 25 warships will partake in the 10-day long exercise. These include corvettes, mine countermeasures vessels, auxiliary vessels, and submarines.

Some of the below exercises will be performed during the SWENEX-21 exercise:

• Take and secure coastline to defend Sweden against an attacker
• Maritime security, to secure imports and important ports
• Practice logistics supply of the military units
• Practice sea mining
• Collaboration with other authorities, for example, the Coast Guard

The exercise has been accepted by the Ministry of Defence which is responsible for Sweden’s military defense and its support agencies is to be included in the Defence Forces’ international exercise programme 2021.

Air Defense Exercise 21

SWENEX-21 will be carried out at the same time as Air Defense Exercise 21 so, in addition to the ships, several helicopters and fighter aircrafts will perform. During the exercise, you can expect low-flying and supersonic flying to be performed within parts of the exercise area.

The airforce defends Sweden – in the air and from the ground. They work around the clock, all year round to contribute to the stability and security in our immediate area.

(Image: Linus Ehn / The Swedish Armed Forces)

An important exercise requires advanced systems and services

The security policy situation in our immediate area and the outside world has changed. Shifting demands requires new supplier strategies to deliver on time, on target, and on cost. Expando’s products help strengthen Sweden’s marine defense as we play an important link in the supply chain.

Expando AB is a regional expert offering defense components and integration projects. We act as representative or distributor for first-class suppliers and our aim is to be your long-term reliable partner. To discuss your future projects contact us.