Latvia invests in electromagnetic protection and cybersecurity
With the goal to equip its armed forces with emerging and disruptive technologies, the Latvian MoD announced on 16 December that it will invest around €1.3 million ($1.4 million) in three innovative projects.
The efforts are intended to enhance electromagnetic protection and cybersecurity and to develop a ballistic protective vest and a resistant composite to protect UAVs.
A total of €465,000 ($526,000) has been allocated to the improvement of electromagnetic protection and cybersecurity in field conditions.
The project will be developed in cooperation with the Institute of Electronics and Computer Science and the Institute of Mathematics and Informatics of the University of Latvia. It will use innovative shielding, monitoring and data destruction technologies.
The prototype of a ballistic protective vest will feature a pressure-sensitive layer with graphene and silicon aerogel for accurate reception of impact. This effort has been awarded funding of €449,000 ($508,000).
The development of a light and high-temperature resistant composite to protect UAVs from direct energy weapons has been received €369,000 ($383,000).
These proposals were selected under Latvia's Defence Innovation Research programme. The three winning projects will be implemented by December 2023.
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