Agile and Resilient Embedded Systems

Mission assurance requires all operational platforms and systems to be able to perform their function under the ever-growing challenge of cyber hostility. Since 2014, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Agile and Resilient Embedded System (ARES) program has been developing a Cyber Security and Resilience (CSR) methodology and associated technologies for ground-up designs as well as retrofitting existing platforms. Throughout the duration of the program, the ARES approach was applied and demonstrated with an octocopter, an unmanned aerial system testbed, and a fixed-wing aircraft. Since then, efforts have been focused on advancing capability and transitioning CSR technologies into DoD systems. In this paper, we summarize the ARES methodology and technologies, and describe our experience of inserting them into DoD embedded systems.