Leonardo: the second experimentation of the European research program for maritime surveillance OCEAN2020 is underway
Identifying and identifying surface and underwater threats, these are the operational scenarios that will characterize the second naval demonstration of OCEAN2020 (Open Cooperation for European mAritime awareNess), the largest European military research project for maritime security, led by Leonardo. The operations will take place in the Baltic Sea in late August and will involve the use of 13 remotely piloted systems, four naval units - a Swedish logistic support vessel, a Lithuanian patrol vessel, a Polish mine destroyer and a German research vessel - a satellite and two command centers.
The remote guided systems will demonstrate live their ability to patrol and classify threats, thanks to the images acquired by the various sensors on board, allowing the execution of two scenarios. In the first case, surveillance, interdiction and engagement of multiple surface threats will be carried out, while the second will focus on the identification of hostile underwater activities and on the detection of enemy Special Forces in coastal areas.
Leonardo, on the strength of the success of the first demonstration, which took place in 2019 in the Gulf of Taranto, will participate in the exercise, coordinated by Saab, with various innovative solutions, including the integrated remotely piloted SW-4 SOLO helicopter - as well as the drone Safran Patroller - with Osprey 30 Electronic Scanning Surveillance Radar (AESA) capable of supporting a wide range of missions and offering full coverage to fixed, rotating and unmanned wing platforms.
Installed on the P11 Žemaitis naval unit of the Lithuanian Navy, Leonardo's Combat Management System (CMS) will guarantee interoperability with the SW-4 SOLO, integrating and coordinating in real time the information coming from the drone with the on-board sensors and systems . The advanced technology it is equipped with provides operators with full situational awareness, together with the ability to react immediately in any context. Finally, Leonardo will make earth observation services available, provided through the SEonSE (Smart Eyes on the SEas) platform of e-GEOS (ASI 20% - Telespazio 80%), using the capabilities of the Cosmo-SkyMed satellite.
OCEAN2020 aims to provide European naval forces with the demonstration of a "system of systems", an open and interoperable architecture that integrates data from different platforms and allows a European operations center, whose prototype will be installed in Brussels, to improve the situational awareness and the ability to plan and manage operations in real time.
OCEAN2020, funded by the European Union (EU Preparatory Action on Defense Research) with the grant no. 801697, is the most important project of the first tender. Leonardo leads a team of 43 partners from 15 European countries, including industries and research institutions and the Italian Defense Ministries, Germany, Greece, Spain, Portugal and Lithuania.