Ultra I&C has secured a contract to supply nine of its advanced Knox-5 processors for the U.S. Marine Corps’ fleet of MQ-9B SkyGuardian aircraft. This integration is designed to significantly enhance the drone’s ability to process, analyze, and act upon mission-critical data directly at the tactical edge—the very forefront of operations where connectivity is often limited or denied.
Specifically engineered for the stringent size, weight, and power (SWaP) constraints of unmanned platforms, the Knox-5 provides formidable computing power without compromising the aircraft’s performance. This capability allows the MQ-9B to run sophisticated artificial intelligence models, manage high-volume sensor feeds from radar and cameras, and execute complex algorithms in real-time, far from centralized data centers.
The core innovation of the Knox processor family lies in its commitment to open architecture. Aligned with the U.S. military’s Sensor Open Systems Architecture (SOSA) standard, Knox breaks away from proprietary hardware lock-in. This gives the Marine Corps, and ultimately other services, the critical flexibility to upgrade software, integrate new sensors, and adapt to emerging threats without the prohibitive cost and time delays of replacing entire hardware systems or undergoing lengthy recertification processes.
“Defense systems shouldn’t force operators into proprietary dead ends,” stated Mladen Brkic, President of Ultra I&C’s Mission Solutions. “Knox breaks that cycle. Platform operators can swap modules, update software and integrate new capabilities as missions change—flexibility built for operational reality.”
The processors manage complex data flows across multi-domain missions—air, land, and maritime—enabling the execution of cloud-native applications even in electronically contested environments. Its modular design philosophy supports rapid capability updates, allowing warfighters to respond to new challenges in a matter of days or weeks, rather than the traditional multi-year defense acquisition timeline.
This contract for the Marine Corps MQ-9B program represents more than a single sale; it is a pivotal step toward high-rate production for Ultra I&C. The company is now scaling its manufacturing capacity to meet anticipated demand from across the U.S. and allied forces, all of whom are seeking to embed this kind of agile, future-proof computing power into their own unmanned and manned platforms. The goal is clear: to ensure that frontline platforms can evolve as quickly as the threats they face, maintaining a decisive technological edge on the battlefields of today and tomorrow.
