Programme Category
Programme Name
Programme Description
The European Defence Fund (EDF) is the Commission’s initiative to support collaborative defence research and development, and to foster an innovative and competitive defence industrial base.
Identifier Code
Call
Summary
In the context of a changing geopolitical landscape, European Military Forces are facing new and evolving threats that are smaller, faster and more diverse, with increased manoeuvrability, like for instance Ballistic Missiles (BMs), Hypersonic Glide Vehicles (HGV) and Hypersonic Cruise Missiles (HCM), and swarmed attacks in a sensor adverse environment (e.g., stealth target, high target mix, environmental clutter, electronic attack).
Anti-Air Warfare (AAW) in the naval domain requires new technological developments to ensure lasting superiority at sea of EU naval surface vessels. Successful engagement to counter new threats can only be done by significantly reducing times as regards detection, tracking, identification and engagement.
EU navies already operate a variety of high-end sensors and weapons controlled by several combat management system, interconnected through Tactical Data Links (TDL) and other communication means, or have these under development. However, communications used nowadays (e.g., TDL 16/22) do not provide the speed, precision, configuration and update rate that enable successful engagements of future threats. Key challenge is to move from these existing capabilities to a naval collaborative surveillance ability in the Above Water Warfare (AWW) domain, based on real-time Plot Level Data Exchange and Fusion (PLDEF), emanating from diverse and heterogeneous platforms (ships or aerial) and relying on adequate and resilient communication means.
This new Naval Cooperative Surveillance (NCS) capability is considered as a first step and the basis for a capability on effector coordination (i.e., Force Threat Evaluation and Weapon Assignment) and Naval Collaborative Engagement (NCE).
Detailed Call Description
The objective is to develop a full NCS capability allowing a better tactical situational awareness shared within a coalition, in terms of performances (e.g., coverage, robustness, accuracy of the information produced) and architecture resilience (e.g., degraded combat system, sensor failure, sensor jammed, loss of telecommunications).
It must consist in particular, in defining an EU NCS protocol/interface standard for real time exchange of raw data originated from sensors (plot level), thus facilitating the AWW operations within a coalition of EU naval and air assets. It must consist, as well, in developing processing functions and algorithms to use the data exchanged through the protocol/interface standard. The NCS will achieve a more effective elaboration of the tactical picture, through plot merging, tracking, identification, etc. Such data processing functions and algorithms could be developed either jointly or nationally. They must take the form of demonstrators and prototypes, which will be verified via demonstrations and testing. Further national implementation and deployment must comply with national legacies and strategies.
Furthermore, it is expected that the NCS has to be used in Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) denied areas. Therefore, the proposed NCS could also include a GNSS-independent mode that ensures successful operation when GNSS is vulnerable or unreliable. This GNSS-independent mode must result in minimal impact on the engageability of the tracks, still allowing for a NCE capability.
Call Total Budget
Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan
For the funding rate please visit page 8 of the call document.
Thematic Categories
- Information Technology
- Justice - Security
- Research, Technological Development and Innovation
Eligibility for Participation
- Associations
- Large Enterprises
- Legal Entities
- Local Authorities
- Local Authority clusters
- Researchers/Research Centers/Institutions
- Semi-governmental organisations
- Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
- State-owned Enterprises
Call Opening Date
Call Closing Date
National Contact Point(s)
Ministry of Defense
172-174 Strovolos Avenue, 2048 Strovolos, Nicosia,
website: https://mod.gov.cy/
Telephone: 22 807500
Email: defence@mod.gov.cy
Department of Research and Innovation
Phones: 22 807755, 22 807754
Email: research.innovation@mod.gov.cy
EU Contact Point
European Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space (DEFIS)
https://ec.europa.eu/info/departments/defence-industry-and-space_en