TOYON RESEARCH CORPORATION SBIR Phase I Award, November 2022

Securing the classified data stored, generated, and/or collected by unmanned systems is an especially challenging task given the simple fact that these systems have a high potential of ending up in the hands of adversaries. There have been a number of advancements in recent years such as remote and autonomous zeroization techniques. In 2020 General Dynamics released the first Type 1 Data at Rest (D@R) encryptor certified by NSA for Top-Secret and below data in unmanned operations. While these latest generations of devices are appropriate for use on large unmanned systems, their size, weight, and power (SWaP) make them unsuitable for use on small unmanned vehicles. To address this technology gap Toyon is proposing a standards-based solution that incorporates recent OEM NSA Type 1 encryption solutions housed in a conductively cooled, ruggedized enclosure with QUADRANT (anti-tamper) and TEMPEST protection features. In Phase I Toyon plans to evaluate various VPX and/or VNX architectures along with potential D@R and DiT encryption solutions capable of achieving NSA Type 1 certification requirements for unmanned operation. Findings will be used to develop a detailed system architecture and Phase II development plan and schedule.