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 On 31st March 2009 the European Defence Agency (EDA) signed the contract on the Studies for Integrated Multifunction Compact Lightweight Airborne Radars and Systems (SIMCLAIRS) with a consortium consisting of national industrial companies from three EDA participating Member States: France, Sweden and United Kingdom. The consortium consists of 4 European companies, all of which have already been successfully involved in past and present airborne radar and equipment development in Europe.
The project started in April 2009 and lasts for 48 months; the value of contract is € 21 million (excluding VAT). If the first four year phase is successful then a second phase is expected.
Project Aims
The main aim of SIMCLAIRS is to deliver new technology solutions in the field of light and compact Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Radio Frequency (RF) payloads with the combination of Synthetic Aperture Radar / Moving Target Indicator (SAR/MTI), Foliage Penetrating (FOPEN), Electronic Support Measures (ESM) and possibly communications. Expected results of the project will be a response to the projected capability needs arising within the time horizon of 2015-2020. To achieve the best results in terms of the technology solutions available, the project establishes a new mechanism called the Innovation and Technology Partnership (ITP) where a competed part of the project will ensure the capture and exploitation of novel technologies from Industry, small and medium enterprises and academia, and provide the free flow of technology and information across national boundaries between the participating entities. In order to guarantee the best technology knowledge available in Europe two open calls for Research Supplier Proposals will be organized by the consortium, without discrimination on grounds of nationality, type of research suppliers and so on. The first call will be in September 2009.
Study Topics
The development of System Architectures is being carried out across all the core project activities . These core activities split into 5 technical domains (TDs) which address system level requirements and the study of technology building blocks viz:
(i) System Level Studies
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TD1 -Sensor systems objectives
Requirements for sensor systems, Sensor systems analysis, performance objectives, Analysis of critical technology |
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TD5 - Multi-platform sensors
Synchronisation and Platform Localisation, Mode Scheduling and Multiplatform COMINT' |
(ii) Technology Building Block Studies
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TD2 -Low frequency surveillance technologies
Digital sampling, synthesis and distribution, Antenna systems combining radar and passive technologies, Covert and cohabitant radar |
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TD3 - High frequency surveillance technologies
Multifunction RF digitised receiver technologies, Antenna architecture, Wideband High SFDR MMIC receiver |
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TD4 - Multi-band sensors
Very wideband transmitter/receiver subassemblies, including power amplifiers, Multifunction IF digitised receiver technologies, Compact waveform generation for multifunction, multiband sensors, Wideband MMICs for low mass multifunction antennas and RF systems |
The Bidding Process for the First Call
Information for Bidders
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