CREST consortium to deliver UK CCCES programme

A new programme to investigate novel technologies and techniques in support of future UK defence electronic surveillance procurements is to be carried out by the Collaborative Research in Electronic Surveillance Technology (CREST) consortium following its selection by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD).

The programme is called the Communications and Cross-Cutting Electronic Surveillance (CCCES) programme.

The CREST consortium, led jointly by QinetiQ and Roke Manor Research, will carry out the programme in close collaboration with Dstl. The programme has a primary focus on communications electronic surveillance, with elements also encompassing radar transmissions. A key feature of the research will be to undertake field demonstrations to assist in the de-risking of advanced signal processing techniques. 

Giles Bond, CREST consortium co-lead and manager of QinetiQ's electronic warfare and radar business, said: ‘CREST will deliver outputs across a range of technology readiness levels, spanning innovative research and technology demonstrator systems. The focus will be on using advanced signal processing hosted on software-reconfigurable hardware architectures to prove how future UK Electronic Surveillance requirements can be met more rapidly with reduced risk and at lower cost than is currently possible.’

Chris Tarran, the co-lead for Roke Manor, added: ‘We are delighted to be at the hub of this important research and demonstration programme which will help to underpin the future of UK electronic surveillance technology. In particular, we are focussing on the future challenges faced with urban operations, and the need for low size, weight and power electronic surveillance solutions with a capability against the complex urban signal and propagation environments.’

The CREST consortium will also bring together the wider electronic surveillance community in the UK to gain access to a wide supplier base to deliver a research programme that satisfies the MoD's requirements. This will include Small and Medium sized Enterprises and a selection of universities.