Abaco Systems is a global leader in commercial open architecture computing and rugged embedded electronics. With more than 40 years of experience in aerospace & defense, industrial, energy, medical, communications, and other critical sectors, Abaco’s innovative solutions align with open standards to accelerate customer success. Abaco Systems is a business unit of AMETEK, Inc., a leading global provider of industrial technology solutions serving a diverse set of attractive niche markets with annual sales of approximately $9.0 billion.
Abaco Systems Leads the Market with Intel Core Ultra Series 3 Compute-Intensive SBC for AI at the Tactical Edge
Rugged 3U VPX®, SOSA aligned, built on Intel® Core Ultra Series 3

HUNTSVILLE, Ala.,July 7, 2026 - Abaco Systems today introduced the SBC3618, a market leading compute-intensive 3U VPX® single board computer built on Intel® Core Ultra Series 3 processors, formerly Panther Lake. Aligned to the SOSA™ compute-intensive profile, the SBC3618 brings hybrid CPU, GPU, and NPU acceleration to sensor fusion, autonomy, electronic warfare, and AI inference at the tactical edge and was designed congruent to the Intel CPU launch.
"Our customers are pushing more autonomy and more AI into the platform, and they need it inside a power and thermal envelope that fits the mission," said Simon Collins, Director of Product Management at Abaco Systems. "The SBC3618 is a SOSA™ compute-intensive board built with the new Core Ultra Series 3 and it gives integrators a programmable 15 to 65W power envelope, real-time AI processing, FPGA-backed security, and optional TSN, all on a SOSA aligned card.”
Key capabilities:
- Intel® Core Ultra Series 3 with integrated CPU, GPU, and NPU for AI at the edge
- Up to 64 GB LPDDR5 with ECC and up to 1 TB NVMe storage
- 100G Ethernet data plane with RDMA and PCIe Gen4 expansion
- Xilinx UltraScale+ FPGA with dedicated user space for customer and third-party security functions
- Optional Time-Sensitive Networking for deterministic, low-latency communications
- Convection and conduction-cooled variants
- Linux and Windows support
The SBC3618 is the compute-intensive sibling to the previously announced SBC3518 I/O-intensive SBC, sharing roughly 90 percent design commonality across the family. It is also the direct, profile-compatible successor to the SBC3612D, giving existing programs a clean technology insertion path to next-generation Intel silicon without redesigning the system. Early access units are available now, with production targeted for Q1 2027.
To request a briefing or evaluation unit, visit Abaco.com or contact your Abaco representative.
For more information, contact:
Cory Lippert
Director of Marketing
Abaco Systems | AMETEK