Atos, Rafael Win German Army’s “Glass Battlefield” Study Tender

Atos has teamed up with Rafael to demonstrate the use of UAS in conjunction with combat vehicles, to achieve a real-time, three-dimensional, dynamic situation picture for mobile operations

Atos, Rafael Win German Army’s “Glass Battlefield” Study Tender

The Fire Weaver concept (Illustration: Rafael)

The Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw) has selected Atos to act as prime contractor for the “creation of a glass battlefield to support dynamic operations (ErzUntGlas)” study.

Atos has joined forces with Rafael to demonstrate the use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) in conjunction with combat vehicles to achieve a real-time, three-dimensional, dynamic situation picture for mobile operations.

For mobile battlefield reconnaissance, the German armed forces need many UAS that can span a “Glass Battlefield.” A C4I network consisting of civilian and military components will be used. The study entails an annual demonstration experiment starting in 2019 through 2023, which would be followed by project planning until 2025.

As prime contractor, Atos will provide Project Lead and Integration. Rafael will provide its Fire Weaver – a 3D many-to-many sensor-to-shooter system, and BNET, a broadband IP spectrum-sensing SDR system for both air and land platforms. BNET uses Multi-frequency Channel Reception (MCR) to receive and analyze information from numerous frequency channels, simultaneously, using a single RF head.

“Today’s battlefields are undergoing far-reaching changes that affect the operational needs of land, air, and naval forces, with newly emerging real-time applications, such as sensor-to-effector cycle closure systems,” said Yoav Wermuth, VP and Head of Rafael’s C3I Directorate. “Rising to meet these challenges, and basing itself on decades of experience in the development of C4I solutions, Rafael has developed the BNET Family enhanced with a Patented technology, and the Fire Weaver for high-precision, three-dimensional, GPS-independent common visual language system. Assimilation of these systems into the Bundeswehr will lead to a number of significant changes: It will provide a common visual language between different types of units not only from the Bundeswehr but also from allied forces, which share the same threats and missions, connecting multiple sensors and shooters on one single ‘flat’ network.”