US Space Force increases efforts to plug training capabilities gaps
The service has been seeking simulation and emulation solutions capable of reproducing multiple in-orbit threats.
The Alliance for ESSOR (a4ESSOR) has been awarded a contract amendment by OCCAR which allows Germany to join the European Secure Software defined Radio (ESSOR) programme and its Operational Capability 1 (OC1) phase.
Germany joins Finland, France, Italy, Poland and Spain on the programme, with German company Rohde & Schwarz also joining the a4ESSOR consortium.
The contract amendment will replace the ESSOR OC1 contract signed in November 2017. The duration of the new ESSOR OC1 contract is 63 months from January 2018, and the total value for a4ESSOR is approximately €100 million.
Work will be shared between the six companies participating in a4ESSOR: Bittium (Finland), Indra (Spain), Leonardo (Italy), Radmor (Poland), Rohde & Schwarz (Germany) and Thales (France).
Lino Laganà, president and general manager, a4ESSOR, said: ‘This contract, which will see Germany participate in the ESSOR programme, is a big step forward towards a common European defence infrastructure.
‘Secure communications are key to the interoperability of armed forces, which is why a4ESSOR has been developing high-quality and highly-secure communications capabilities which are easily deployable on several manufacturers’ radios thanks to SDR technology and our ESSOR architecture.’
The service has been seeking simulation and emulation solutions capable of reproducing multiple in-orbit threats.
The service has been conducting several acquisition and upgrading efforts involving artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve communication, data analysis and ISR systems.
The Syracuse 4B communications satellite, developed by Airbus and Thales Alenia Space, was launched last year, bolstering secure military satellite communications for the French Armed Forces. Thales has now been selected to provide terminals for vehicles.
The growing importance of space in modern warfare, advancements in satellite technology, and increasing threats from rivals like China and Russia were among the topics of a Eurosatory 2024 panel on military space operations.
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During the 18-month period of the contract, Lockheed Martin will apply Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) techniques to create surrogate models of aircraft, sensors, electronic warfare and weapons within dynamic and operationally representative environments.