Multi-dimensional reconnaissance: OHB Digital Connect realises technology demonstrator for the German Armed Forces

Koblenz/Bremen, 10 September 2024. OHB Digital Connect GmbH, a subsidiary of the space technology group OHB SE, has been commissioned by the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw) in Koblenz to demonstrate information acquisition using multiple sensors distributed on various flying platforms. The contract was awarded as part of the FACT roadmap (FACT = Future Airborne Combat Technologies). The project ties in directly with a successfully completed study on the same topic and is intended to demonstrate the functionality of the sensor systems developed in this context through flight campaigns. This step will make the technology for collecting information from distributed sensors available for application.

OHB Digital Connect is leading the realisation of the technology demonstrator as prime contractor; project partners and subcontractors are MBDA, Hensoldt, Airbus and ESG as well as the Fraunhofer Institutes IOSB (image processing), FHR (radar) and FKIE (data fusion).

The technological innovation of the technology demonstrator is the interconnection of many different sensor types and cameras on different flight platforms in combination with automated and AI-supported image analysis. This allows weaknesses of the individual sensors and platforms to be compensated for and strengths to be leveraged. Satellites are used to provide a wide-area overview. Information about potentially interesting structures and objects in the satellite images is then automatically transferred to other sensors on other platforms (e.g. airplanes, drones), which capture further details in a different wavelength range or with higher resolution. As a result, significantly less human interaction is required from the initial image capture to the final, meaningful data product and comprehensive situational images are available more quickly.

"The challenge is to have information about a particular area before anyone else, to achieve what is known as information superiority," explains Susanne Heimberger, Project Manager at OHB Digital Connect. "We use satellite images and merge them with photos and videos that we take with planes and drones. We then combine this data with information we have from observers on the ground or from other sources in the area, generating an up-to-date picture of the situation for any kind of operational planning in near real time."

The project was officially launched at the beginning of July and is scheduled for completion in 2027. The results will be available for use in reconnaissance and Earth observation systems.