By: Robert Kalebaugh, VP of Sales, One Stop Systems  

Delivering Datacenter Compute to the Battlefield at the Speed of Need 

The character of modern warfare is being reshaped by data. Sensors, autonomy, electronic warfare, and AI-driven decision systems are now decisive advantages, but only if compute power can be deployed fast enough and close enough to the fight. This reality sits at the center of recent guidance from the Trump administration and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, who has repeatedly emphasized that “speed wins; speed dominates” and that advanced compute must move “from the data center to the battlefield.” 

OSS specializes in taking the latest commercial GPU, FPGA, NIC, and NVMe technologies, the same acceleration platforms driving hyperscale data centers, and delivering them in rugged, deployable systems purpose-built for U.S. military platforms. At a moment when the Department of War is prioritizing speed, adaptability, and commercial technology insertion, OSS sits at the intersection of performance, ruggedization, and rapid deployment. 

From CDAO Priorities to Operational Platforms 

The Pentagon’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) has made clear that artificial intelligence, data integration, and edge computing are not future aspirations, they are current operational necessities. CDAO’s mandate centers on accelerating AI adoption, breaking down data silos, and ensuring that advanced digital capabilities transition rapidly from experimentation to fielded systems. 

OSS directly enables this mission. AI models are only as effective as the compute infrastructure that supports them, and most AI development still occurs in data centers using commercial GPUs and high-speed PCIe fabrics. We bridge that gap by translating those same architectures into SWaP-optimized, rugged edge systems capable of operating on aircraft, ground vehicles, ships, and expeditionary platforms. In effect, OSS provides the hardware foundation that allows CDAO-driven AI initiatives to move out of the lab and into operational environments, without waiting years for bespoke military hardware development. 

Speed Wins, and OSS is Built for High-Performance Execution  

Secretary Hegseth’s assertion that “speed wins; speed dominates” applies as much to acquisition and fielding as it does to battlefield decision-making. OSS technology and culture align naturally with this imperative. 

Rather than designing proprietary silicon or closed architectures, we embrace a commercial-first strategy, leveraging the rapid innovation cycles of GPU vendors and the PCIe ecosystem. This approach allows us to refresh capability on commercial timelines, not defense-unique timelines, dramatically shortening the gap between new computing breakthroughs and deployed military advantage. 

Equally important is our productized systems approach. By delivering complete, rugged, qualified standard systems, rather than one-off custom designs, OSS enables faster integration, faster testing, and faster scaling across programs of record. When speed is the objective, repeatable platforms beat bespoke solutions. 

One of the keys to OSS’ ability to keep pace with commercial innovation is our open standards design approach. By leveraging system architecture and technological advancements in open standards such as OCP, SOSA, and MOSA, OSS products leverage the inherent modularity of open systems architectures to provide a quick time-to-market with a long and scalable product lifecycle. 

From the Data Center to the Battlefield; Literally 

Hegseth’s call to move capability “from the data center to the battlefield” is not metaphorical for OSS, it is our company’s core business model. 

OSS systems are explicitly designed to carry data-center-class GPUs, FPGAs, and NVMe storage into environments defined by shock, vibration, thermal extremes, and constrained power budgets. High-bandwidth PCIe architectures ensure that accelerators are not starved for data, enabling real-time sensor fusion, AI inference, and electronic warfare workloads at the edge. 

This capability is essential for the next generation of military platforms, where latency matters, connectivity is contested, and decisions must be made locally, often in milliseconds. We enable commanders and autonomous systems to act on data where it is generated, not after it is shipped back to a distant server farm. OSS attributes aligned with moving “at the speed of need” include: 

Let’s Go 

As the Department of War modernizes for an era defined by AI, data dominance, and accelerated decision cycles, success will favor companies that can move fast without sacrificing capability. OSS exemplifies this balance. By delivering cutting-edge commercial compute from the data center to the battlefield, and doing so at the speed of need, we are precisely the kind of partner envisioned by CDAO priorities and Secretary Hegseth’s directive that speed, above all, wins.