SignalGeneriX Ltd is participating as a technology provider in the European Defence Fund (EDF) project “hIgh FreqUency oveR The Horizon sensors’ cognitivE netwoRk” (iFURTHER).

The 3-year research project, which officially commenced on 1 December 2022, is funded by the EDF with a total budget of 10.95 million Euros. The iFURTHER consortium consists of 18 partners (four industrials, seven RTO, and five SMEs) from 10 countries and is coordinated by Hellenic Aerospace Industry S.A. (Greece).

iFURTHER addresses wide-area air and sea covert surveillance by developing new concepts of over-the-horizon radar to be integrated into a collaborative network of high-frequency sensors. 

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Ultimately, the project will contribute to developing a persistent and very wide-area EU defence capability to monitor air and sea domains by delivering a concrete and scalable solution. In particular, iFURTHER’s objectives are to:

• detect and track air and sea targets at long range (over the horizon), far beyond currently existing systems, by using the reflections of skywave and surface-wave propagated signals;
• fill gaps and extend the current EU air and sea radar coverage by introducing a multistatic sensor configuration supported by ad-hoc network protocols and an appropriate infrastructure for synchronization and coordination of sensors (e.g. C2);
• implement cognitive radar management systems to optimize operational parameters in real-time and as a function of environmental conditions (e.g. the state of the ionosphere), based on robust ionospheric models and sounding protocols (not excluding the development of ionospheric sensors);
• implement advanced signal processing techniques to improve over-the-horizon detection and track performance as well as target localization capabilities;
• utilize available non-cooperative illumination and apply cognitive features at a network level to develop new techniques for optimized use of the electromagnetic spectrum and passive processing.

Emerging military threats to the EU, including hypersonic and ballistic threats, clearly demonstrate the need for very early warning systems. Given the threat spectrum, it is evident that no single technology or system can address all threat types in all situations.

The EU-funded project iFURTHER will focus on a revolutionary defence system concept fit for this purpose and capable of protecting the sovereignty and integrity of the European Union.

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