Press Release
Purple Rhombus and Tangram Flex Partner to Scale UAS Modular Mission Systems
The initiative combines scalable UAS manufacturing with open standards and interoperability software, giving operators maximum freedom over payload, software, and C2 mission integrations.
Texas, October 7, 2026 — Purple Rhombus and Tangram Flex today announced a partnership to accelerate modular mission-system integration across Purple Rhombus unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).
The initiative advances Purple Rhombus’s vision of producing affordable aircraft at industrial scale while giving operators the flexibility to adapt them to changing missions.
The partnership is focused on separating mission from platform: common airframes with modular mission systems that allow swappable payloads, sensors, and communications to evolve without redesigning the production baseline.
The companies will combine Purple Rhombus's scalable UAS platforms with Tangram Flex's Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA)-aligned integration tools and rapidly configurable software adapters to make payloads, mission software, and command-and-control (C2) systems simpler to integrate, easier to operate, and faster to adapt to meet ever-evolving customer needs.
Many UAS are described as modular because payloads can be physically exchanged. In practice, adding a new sensor, radio, electronic warfare system, mission computer, or C2 interface often requires custom software, vehicle modifications, extensive regression testing, and recurring OEM support.
As defense capabilities become increasingly software-defined, Tangram Flex provides the software interoperability layer needed to extend those capabilities across users with different data schemas, communications links, and mission architectures.
The initial effort will address a common interoperability challenge: connecting lightweight, commercial MAVLink-based Group 2 UAS with Universal Command and Control Interface (UCI)-enabled mission systems and higher-echelon C2 architectures. Tangram Flex's MachLinx product will translate between those environments while maintaining separation between flight-critical vehicle functions and mission-system software.
"Operators should be able to adapt to the mission system as quickly as the mission changes,” said Mike Benitez, CEO of Purple Rhombus. “Our goal is to provide separability between the mission and the platform, moving the mission configuration of our products from a vendor-controlled engineering activity to a front-line operational decision."
The UCI-to-MAVLink implementation is the first example of a broader partnership that will support additional payload interfaces, mission-system standards, C2 systems, data formats, and software frameworks.
The long-term vision is an open mission-system ecosystem where payloads, software, and C2 evolve on independent timelines and can be rapidly integrated into high-rate production UAS.
About Purple Rhombus
Purple Rhombus is an aerospace and defense company focused on industrial-scale unmanned aerial systems. It designs, develops, and delivers unmanned aircraft systems engineered for affordability, high-rate producibility, and mission effectiveness for U.S. and allied defense customers.
About Tangram Flex
Tangram Flex is a non-traditional defense tech software company that enables the rapid integration of mission and weapon systems through assured software interoperability. Tangram solves the most complex integration challenges by providing commercial software, tools, engineering methodologies, and tech-enabled solutions needed to accelerate and de-risk the delivery of open, modular, and interoperable systems.