TAG’s primary target market is the ruggedized COTS (commercial off-the-shelf) market, a segment which is dominated by the U.S. military. In the mid-1990s, the Department of Defense (DoD) initiated the Strategic Acquisition Initiative (SAI), which mandated that U.S. defense contractors had to first consider COTS equipment for mil-spec programs as a cost savings measure. As a consequence of this action, major defense contractors now outsource a majority of their program development work to companies like TAG.
However, deploying COTS-based equipment in a harsh and rugged environment is not as simple as it might sound. While cost-saving is certainly a key objective, the COTS equipment is still required to meet program-specific military specifications. These specifications typically stipulate required performance under various conditions such as extreme temperatures, humidity, altitude, vibration, shock, electromagnetic interference (EMI), dust, and all sorts of inclement weather. It is quite apparent that for the COTS equipment to meet these assorted mil-specs, it needs to be “ruggedized”, which is where TAG comes in.
TAG began developing rugged systems long before it became fashionable under the DoD's COTS directive. TAG utilizes a systems engineering process that encompasses mechanical, electrical and thermal elements to ruggedize COTS equipment, which meets the most demanding of mil-specs. TAG equipment has almost 30 years of development history - and, TAG has been delivering rugged, reliable, theatre-ready COTS solutions for well over almost two decades.
