Koblenz/Bremen, September 10, 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 sensors distributed on various airborne platforms. The contract was awarded as part of the FACT roadmap (FACT = Future Airborne Combat Technologies). The project is the direct successor to a successfully completed study on the same topic and aims to demonstrate the functionality of the sensor systems designed within this framework by means of flight campaigns and to make the technology for obtaining information from distributed sensors available.

OHB Digital Connect is leading the realization 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 networking 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 optimally exploited. Satellites provide a wide-area overview. Information about potentially interesting structures and objects in the satellite images is then automatically transferred to other sensors on aircraft and 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.