Germany is a key research partner for Switzerland. This partnership was further expanded and intensified this summer. As a result, Switzerland, represented by armasuisse Science and Technology (S+T), and Germany, represented by the German Federal Office of Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support of the German Federal Armed Forces (BAAINBw), signed a technical implementation agreement for the “Cognitive Radar” project.
Strengthening the cooperative partnership
Within the next four years, armasuisse S+T and the BAAINBw will conduct experiments in a total of five work packages as part of the “Cognitive Radar” project. Thanks to this bilateral scientific cooperation in the field of cognitive radar processes, the cooperation between the two partners is set to be strengthened through experiments, studies and measurements.
The role of algorithms
One of the experiments being carried out aims to find out how existing learning and optimisation algorithms can be adapted in a radar network. Another experiment is set to focus on how these algorithms can be used by armasuisse S+T in an already existing radar network in real time.
A further work package that forms part of this four-year partnership will deal with the question of how cognitive and extremely agile radar equipment can be counteracted from an electronic warfare perspective. For this reason, the measurement data from joint experiments in the field of automated signal analysis and description will be evaluated.
Outlook
During this four-year period, armasuisse S+T and the BAAINBw will meet up at least once a year to prepare the work packages. This partnership will commence in September 2023. The meetings will then alternate between being held in Germany and Switzerland. The results will ultimately be documented in a final report, which will also represent the end of this agreement.
A cognitive radar is adaptive and can independently adapt transmission patterns to its surroundings. Thanks to artificial intelligence, the radar is able to adapt potential transmission patterns to individual targets and automatically detect and suppress interfering signals. Nevertheless, there are still many questions that remain unanswered in terms of the effectiveness of such modern and extremely agile radar systems.
