Germany has officially joined the European Security Software Radio (GROWTH) program and operational capability phase 1 (OC1).
Participation follows the award of an amendment to a contract by Joint Armaments Cooperation Organization (OCCAR).
The German Rohde & Schwarz will work together with the other participating companies Bittium, Indra, Leonardo, Radmor and Thales.
The amendment to the contract was awarded to the multinational alliance for the ESSOR Joint Undertaking (a4ESSOR), which develops European Secure Software Defined Radio (SDR) technology.
The 63-month contract worth 100 million euros will replace the contract ESSOR OC1, signed in November 2017.
President and General Manager of a4ESSOR Lino Lagana said: “This agreement, which will provide Germany with participation in the ESSOR program, is a big step forward towards a common European defense infrastructure.
“Secure communications are key to the interoperability of the armed forces, which is why a4ESSOR develops high-quality and highly secure communication capabilities that can be easily deployed on multi-manufacturer radios thanks to SDR technology and our ESSOR architecture.”
Lagana added: “This agreement also recognizes the outstanding work and achievements of the a4ESSOR team over the past ten years and recognizes the importance of cooperation between our longtime shareholders Bittium, Indra, Leonardo, Radmor and Thales.”
Launched in 2009, the ESSOR program seeks to provide the armed forces with a communication capability that will allow them to cooperate in coalition operations.
The program has already created and proven the European waveform with high data rate (HDR) and a definition of the European architecture of SDR.
The architecture is qualified on six different European platforms.