Bonn/Germany, 7 July 2026– OCCAR-EA Director Joachim Sucker
and Lino Laganà, President of a4ESSOR S.A.S., have signed a contract amendment
for the ESSOR (European Secure Software Defined Radio) Programme, marking an
important step forward in the development of secure and interoperable tactical
communication capabilities for European armed forces.
The amendment, signed under ESSOR Development Stage 4
(ES4), expands the Programme with the development of the ESSOR Narrow Band
Waveform (ENBWF), a new software-defined radio waveform based on the future
NATO standard STANAG 5630 Edition 2. The new capability will be designed
for integration into national software-defined radios sharing the common ESSOR
architecture, further enhancing interoperability among participating nations.
The ENBWF builds on the success of the ESSOR High Data
Rate Waveform (EHDRWF), which was adopted as NATO STANAG 5651 in 2023.
Together, these waveforms will enable armed forces to operate their own
national radio systems while maintaining seamless communication and data
exchange during multinational operations.
The contract amendment increases the overall value of the
ESSOR Programme to more than €211 million and follows the signature
of a procurement contract worth more than €47 million in 2025 for the
deployment of the EHDRWF capability.
The ESSOR Programme brings together six participating
nations — Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain — and
their leading defence industries: Bittium, Thales, Rohde & Schwarz,
Leonardo, Radmor and Indra. Over recent years, these partners have successfully
enhanced the EHDRWF through the integration of advanced electronic protection
measures and modern cryptographic standards, leading to successful
interoperability demonstrations and qualification trials.
As part of the Programme's next phase, a4ESSOR will conduct
extensive field trials of the EHDRWF on various radio platforms to assess its
performance, reliability and operational maturity in realistic environments,
including urban, rural and challenging terrain conditions. The Programme will
also establish an ESSOR in-service support framework and create
an ESSOR reference laboratory that will serve as the central facility
for interoperability testing and validation.
Managed by OCCAR on behalf of the participating nations,
ESSOR is a flagship example of European defence cooperation. By developing a
family of standardised software-defined radio waveforms, the programme enables
secure and reliable communication across land, air and maritime forces, strengthening
multinational operations and supporting future defence capabilities.
More than a technology programme, ESSOR represents a
strategic investment in European interoperability, operational resilience and
defence sovereignty, ensuring that participating nations are equipped to meet
the communication challenges of tomorrow's missions.