October 29, 2025 Defending the skies: How Spectra powers NASAMS against the evolving drone threat
Spectra Defense Technologies CEO Ray Munoz and Chief Commercial Officer Cory Grosklags discuss how ruggedized computing and encrypted storage solutions enable NASAMS to adapt rapidly to emerging drone threats.
As drone threats evolve from small UAS swarms to medium-altitude platforms, the technology behind air defense systems must keep pace. In a recent interview with Kris Osborn of Warrior Maven, Spectra’s leadership team shared how the company’s role on the NASAMS program is enabling the system to adapt to emerging threats in real time.
Key takeaways from the conversation:
Spectra provides real-time computers for NASAMS units with flexible and extensible architecture that enables the customer to tackle different drone types.
- The systems support easy upgrades for fielded platforms through high-capacity removable storage with encryption, allowing the customer to update capabilities without extensive retrofits or processor upgrades.
- Encryption capabilities range from commercial solutions for classified data to Type 1 encryption, protecting sensitive intelligence and operational data collected in mission.
- Software advancements and AI machine learning capabilities can be deployed to existing systems through data collection and analysis, creating new capabilities without hardware changes.
- Virtualization and containerization enable multiple applications to run on dedicated hardware, reducing the space, weight and power demands compared to having separate computing systems for each function.
- Close collaboration with the customer’s engineers ensures systems are designed to meet current requirements and evolve with future mission needs
The interview underscores how the drone threat continues to evolve and how defense systems must remain adaptable. Spectra’s team in Oslo, Norway delivers the computing capability that enables continuous evolution in the field.
Watch Part I of the conversation to hear Ray and Cory discuss encryption protocols, data protection strategies and how ruggedized computing solutions are changing the counter-drone fight.
Part II
In Part II of the conversation, the focus shifts to to undersea applications. Key takeaways:
• Spectra provides ruggedized displays and computing systems for both manned submarines and autonomous underwater vehicles, supporting long-duration missions requiring data capture, communications and recording
• Modern computing solutions deliver significantly more capability in a compact form factor — what once required a ton of rack-mounted equipment now fits in a card-sized package
• High-capacity removable storage enables weeks to months of autonomous patrol data collection, which can be extracted and downloaded when vehicles return or dock at subsurface nodes
• Real-time processing using CPU and GPU technology allows customers to run algorithms and analyze data as it comes in, enabling immediate alerts even with limited bandwidth for transmission
• Systems support multiple data interfaces including fiber optic connections, various video formats and serialized communication protocols, meeting the evolving demands of platforms like Virginia-class and Columbia-class submarines