Third DEFRA Call

Description:

This call is “open” to any research for defence across a broad spectrum within the Defence focus areas mentioned earlier. Collaboration with at least one SME is required: this call encourages the driving role of SMEs in bringing forward innovation, agility and ability to progress technologies, possibly adapting them from civil to defence applications.  The proposals must address innovative defence technologies and solutions, including those that can improve readiness, deployability and sustainability in all spectra of tasks and missions, for example in terms of operations, equipment, basing, energy solutions, … The goal of this open call is to achieve innovative and cost-effective solutions for defence applications, ground-breaking or novel concepts and approaches, new promising future technological improvements or the application of technologies or concepts previously not applied in the defence sector.

Description:

Radar operation must be compatible with other communication and control systems running concurrently. Management of emission and sensing in both space and frequency increases the systems covertness and improves the system’s ability to discriminate reliably signals. Emerging technologies lead to the increased appearance of threats that are difficult to detect and track causing existing surveillance systems to reach their limits in terms of e.g. detection range or angular domain coverage. Research efforts have the goal to create more flexible and adaptive systems in terms of modes of operation and beamforming and offer possibilities to explore different frequency ranges while maintaining a high signal-to-noise ratio. Advances in computing power, digital data and signal processing, have paved the way for better sensors, with increased sensitivity and better detection characteristics. The goal is enhancing detection performance of sensor systems to detect low signature targets, while maintaining as much as possible covert operation, without exposing presence, identity and location. It encompasses innovative concepts of sensor use, in particular the combination of multiple, heterogeneous sensors. The sensors’ integration and interoperability with other sensors (networks) and connection to battlefield management systems can also be addressed.

Description:

This theme brings together all the technologies related to optimise the protection of weapon systems in all situations and circumstances against existing and future threats.
Topics include but are not limited to novel composite structures/materials, near-net shape production techniques (e.g. 3D-printing) and design against emerging or future blast and ballistic threats.
Novel structures in advanced composite materials for instance have as a possible main advantage their lighter weight, and they can hence improve the performance of air, sea and land vehicles and in particular their speed and manoeuvrability.
Another possible subtopic would be the development of specific structures/materials in the military field that are subject to relatively aggressive environments, and are not sensitive to the effect of prematurely aging e.g. due to water or wind erosion, extreme high and low temperatures or more generally humidity. An improvement in environmental resistance will improve product performance and reduce the need for maintenance, thereby increasing their rate of operational readiness.
Another example can be 3D printing that allows room for design freedom, which in turn can improve the performance of military applications, for example by making weapons or vehicles lighter.
Ballistic protection is always a balanced choice between the risk and the downside of the provided protection (higher weight, complex technology,…).
The theme is therefore cross-domain applicable to many defence related programs such as the next generation aerial platform (helicopters, drones,..), future land and naval platforms, the equipment of the soldier in the future, etc..