ZDEN Technologies provides Floodgate™, a modular avionics firewall that translates legacy MIL‑STD‑1553 and other proprietary bus formats into Open Mission Systems‑compatible DDS data streams. Built on a 13th‑gen Intel Core i7 platform with 64 GB ECC memory and TPM 2.0 security, it enables plug‑and‑play integration of modern Ethernet sensors while preserving the certified aircraft baseline, avoiding full recertification for new mission capabilities.
Funding
Funding not disclosed
Founders
Product
Problem
Legacy military aircraft avionics rely on proprietary bus architectures and certified configurations that are costly and time‑consuming to modify. Integrating modern Open Mission Systems (OMS) capabilities requires extensive recertification and airworthiness testing, creating a bottleneck for rapid capability upgrades.
Solution
ZDEN Technologies delivers Floodgate™, a modular avionics firewall that creates a managed interface between legacy avionics and OMS architectures. The firewall translates proprietary MIL‑STD‑1553 and other legacy bus formats into OMS‑compliant DDS data streams while preserving the integrity of the certified aircraft baseline. By isolating legacy subsystems, Floodgate™ eliminates the need for full airworthiness re‑certification when adding new mission functions. The solution supports native Ethernet with Layer 2/3 VLAN segmentation, enabling seamless integration of modern networked sensors and processors. Security is enforced through TPM 2.0, write‑protect, and data sanitization mechanisms, ensuring compliance with defense cybersecurity standards. The hardware platform is built on a 13th‑gen Intel® Core™ i7 processor, 64 GB ECC memory, and removable SSD storage, providing the compute headroom required for real‑time data mediation.
Target Audience
Primary customers are U.S. Air Force bomber program offices, defense contractors, and military aircraft integrators that need to retrofit legacy platforms with OMS‑compatible mission systems while maintaining existing certification envelopes.
Features
- Modular, plug‑and‑play firewall architecture that bridges MIL‑STD‑1553 legacy buses to DDS‑based OMS data links
- Native support for Ethernet (1 GbE and 10 GbE) with configurable Layer 2/3 VLANs for secure network segmentation
- High‑performance compute module (13th‑gen Intel® Core™ i7, 64 GB LPDDR5 ECC RAM, 1 TB removable SSD) for real‑time protocol conversion
- TPM 2.0 hardware root of trust, write‑protect, and data sanitization to meet MIL‑STD‑ cybersecurity requirements
- Integrated support for both legacy and modern protocols (DDS, MIL‑STD‑1553, Ethernet) reducing integration engineering effort
- Certified to operate without altering existing aircraft certification baselines, avoiding costly nuclear certification cycles
- Demonstrated interoperability in multiple USAF aircraft software integration laboratories, validating operational readiness
- Scalable design that accommodates additional mission modules via standardized Open Systems Interfaces