The sensor network of the European sixth-generation fighter is to be developed by HENSOLDT

HENSOLDT, the German sensor specialist, will develop the basic elements of a new type of sensor network for the FCAS program.

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HENSOLDT is developing essential core elements of the novel sensor network in the German-French-Spanish armament project FCAS (= Future Combat Air System). As a member of the German FCMS GbR (FCMS = Future Combat Mission System) consortium, HENSOLDT has been awarded a contract worth approximately 100 million euros by the French procurement authority DGA for the development of demonstrators in the core competence fields of radar, reconnaissance and self-protection electronics, optronics and also the overarching networking of sensor technology.

«The next-generation air combat system requires an intelligent approach to a platform-independent, networked mission system, high-end sensors and AI-based data evaluation,» explains Christoph Ruffner, head of the Spectrum Dominance business unit. «This is where HENSOLDT will make the essential contribution with the FCMS consortium.»

See also: Dassault launches the EICACS project, a European initiative for the standardization of collaborative air combat

In the FCAS project, the participating nations want to develop, among other things, a successor system for the Eurofighter and Rafale fighter aircraft as well as a novel system of networked sensors. By 2025, several technology demonstrators will be developed to show the possibilities of a platform-independent networked solution. This sensor network with different platforms will then be further developed in the other FCAS demonstrator phases.

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The respective technology leaders of the industry from the three countries are involved: Under the overall management of INDRA (Spain), Thales for France and the FCMS consortium for Germany, consisting of HENSOLDT, Diehl Defence, ESG Elektroniksystem- und Logistik-GmbH and Rohde & Schwarz, are working together in the so-called demonstrator phase 1b.

HENSOLDT leads the FCMS consortium and therefore, in addition to its technical work packages, also takes on essential tasks in project management and in the central architecture work packages.