The European Defence Agency (EDA) will support the development of the PESCO CBRN Surveillance as a Service (CBRN SaaS) project as an agency initiative, the agency announced on 12 November.

The Austrian-lead CBRN SaaS project will provide a rapidly deployable 24/7 chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) surveillance capability. The project aims to maximise the use of unmanned systems which will be equipped with a variety of sensors to deliver a real time CBRN surveillance, detection and incident management capability for both civilian and military purposes.

CBRN SaaS is being led by Austria, with Croatia, Hungary and Slovenia taking part. It will now be taken forward as an EDA project.

CBRN SaaS will establish an unmanned sensor network consisting of UAS and UGS that will be interoperable with legacy systems. When combined with communications and data networks it will deliver a Recognised CBRN Picture that enhances knowledge-based decision making by leaders. In focusing on the deployment of unmanned systems, operational flexibility will be increased and reduces the risk to the operators.  

Jorge Domecq, chief executive, EDA, said: ‘EDA is delighted to take this project forward and support our Member States. CBRN SaaS will benefit from EDA’s extensive experience of delivering defence cooperation projects, especially the insights gained from the EDA CBRN joint investment programme.

‘CBRN agents and weapons are a source of great concern, effective surveillance is therefore a crucial capability. As endorsed by the EU’s Capability Development Plan, developing enhanced CBRN capabilities based on newly available technologies such as unmanned systems is a priority that will enhance Europe’s resilience and preparedness to deal with CBRN threats.’

The CBRN SaaS main deliverable will be an operational plugin module for widely varying civilian missions and CSDP or NATO military operations. In addition, the generated Recognised CBRN Picture can be offered as a power by the hour service to others in need of CBRN surveillance.

The project will run until 2022, and will deliver a demonstrator that provides a proof of concept.