Defence`s Feeds

EDA is working on the establishment of a European Terrain Database (ETDB) which will include a vast selection of images taken from across Europe to be made available to Member States’ Armed Forces for multiple military purposes. To this end, a Multinational Field Trial Exercise was held on 23/24 March at the land test centre of the Italian Armed Forces (Centro Polifunzionale di Sperimentazione) in Montelibretti near Rome. 

More than 30 experts from military test centres based in Italy, Sweden, Greece, Spain, the Netherlands, France and Portugal participated in the exercise co-organised by EDA and the Italian Secretariat General of the Defence and National Armaments Directorate - Technological Innovation Department. The first part of the event took place outdoor, in the wider area of the test centre, and was aimed at acquiring images with several cameras working in different spectral regions (visible, long wave Infrared, short wave Infrared) under diverse configurations (mounted on a drone or grounded). A large number of pictures of different terrain landscapes were taken, with and without a specific target. During the second part of the exercise, all these images were uploaded onto the prototypic software platform of the future European Terrain Database which will be installed on EDA servers in the coming months, ready to be populated by users from different participating Member States with unclassified images in different spectral regions (visible, Infrared wavelengths and microwave). The stored pictures will also include information and metadata deemed necessary or useful for their military usage in test and/or research activities.

Once established and fully accessible, the database can be used, for instance, for target recognition, the assessment and improvement of camouflage effectiveness, the testing and enhancement of sensors in different terrains, the generation of synthetic images or the support of modelling and simulation activities. 

The exercise participants came from different expert communities with an interest in the ETDB, particularly scientists and technicians specialised in Optronics and Radar sensor design (including materials) and performance prediction, design, development and testing of new camouflage, visible and infrared signature and Radar Cross Section mitigation solutions. The future dataset can be employed by the Ministries of Defence of all participating Member States for R&T initiatives as well as for operational and training purposes. The multinational field trial was therefore an excellent opportunity for those experts to meet and explore potential cooperation opportunities among European defence test centres.

The event was organised in the framework of EDA’s Defence Test & Evaluation Base (DTEB) initiative, which was launched in 2010 to collect, share and harmonise defence test & evaluation standards and procedures at European level. In the meantime, the DTEB has developed into a dynamic and useful network, not only of European Military Test Centres, but also of companies, universities and public/private research centres operating in the sector of defence technologies.

 

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Source : © European Union, 2022 - EP

2021 has been a year of significant developments in the security and defence domain, both for Europe and the EU institutions in general, and for the European Defence Agency (EDA) in particular.

Amid rising threats in an increasingly tense geo-strategic environment, especially along the EU’s borders (build-up to the Russian invasion of Ukraine), EDA was involved last year in all major efforts to bring EU defence cooperation forward: from the preparation of the Strategic Compass (eventually adopted this week) and ministerial discussions on defence innovation, to the implementation of PESCO and European Defence Fund (EDF) sponsored projects and the launch of the second Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD) cycle. The 2021 Annual Report, published today, provides a comprehensive overview of the work accomplished in EDA’s various activity domains throughout the past year.

The report reflects the progress made in the wide spectrum of the Agency’s activities, from its central role in the implementation of the EU defence initiatives (CARD, PESCO, EDF) and the increasing number of defence research and capability development projects and programmes (+11% compared to 2020), to the launch of new enablers and incentives for defence cooperation and EDA’s growing interface role towards wider EU policies.

From Personnel Recovery to Cyber Defence and C-IED exercise

Among the many 2021 highlights was the Agency’s successful involvement in the multinational Counter-Improvised Explosive Devices (C-IED) Exercise ‘Bison Counter21’ hosted by Italy in Sardinia. The Agency also prepared the launch, in 2022, of a new EDA Bison Counter C-IED Exercises Capability Building (BC-EX) project which foresees at least three additional exercises in 2023, 2025 and 2027.

2021 also saw EDA taking over the role of project manager for two important Cyber Defence and Communication & Information Services (CIS) projects financed under the European Defence Industrial Development Programme (EDIDP): one aimed at developing a European Cyber Situation Awareness Platform (ECYSAP), and other one meant to develop a European Command and Control System from strategic to tactical level (ESC2).

EDA’s prototype Tactical Personnel Recovery Mission Simulator (TPRMS) was inaugurated in November 2021 at Italian Air Base Poggio Renatico. The new Virtual Reality-based simulator, which allows Personnel Recovery teams to collectively rehearse tactics, techniques and procedures in a risk-free environment, marks a significant achievement as no such capability currently exists within Europe.

The PDF version of the 2021 Annual Report can be downloaded here.

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