Four Nordic army chiefs visited FFI to look at new technology

‘We want to show how new technology and new solutions can help change the battlefield of the future,’ says Katrine Mygland Dybwad. She is research manager and arena leader at ICE worx Rena, where the experiments take place.

‘The goal is for the work we do to help define the army of tomorrow.’

Connecting sensors and weapons

In autumn 2023, researchers demonstrated how data from remotely operated sensors and a drone swarm in the field can be combined to find and send target data to the Armed Forces’ battlefield management system, norBMS, and onwards to the targeting system ODIN to end up as a mission for a weapon.

The Norwegian Army Land Warfare Centre, Kongsberg, Teleplan, and Nammo participated in the experiments.

‘We worked especially on collaboration between unmanned systems, sensors, and weapon systems, and how data sharing between these can take place,’ explains Dybwad.

Rapid development is important

Four Nordic army chiefs were present during the demonstration: Lieutenant General Pasi Välimäki (Finland), Major General Gunner Arpe Nielsen (Denmark), Major General Dan Jonny Mattias Lindfors (Sweden), and Major General Lars Lervik (Norway).

In addition to an overall demonstration, the army chiefs were given a more thorough introduction to the various technologies that provides the basis for the demonstrated capabilities. FFI works closely with the newly established department for tomorrow's combat unit at the Norwegian Army Land Warfare Centre in Rena, who also contributed during LandX23. Chief of the Army, Major General Lars Lervik was satisfied with what he saw.

‘Here we show that we not only talk about, but actually manage to put into practice, connecting our units and operational capabilities with the research environment at FFI and the industry.’

The Finnish army chief Pasi Välimäki emphasized the importance of rapid technological development.

‘What we have seen happening in Ukraine in terms of robotics, AI, and UAVs has happened faster than we thought. We can’t wait for long programs ranging from seven to fifteen years. We have to make things happen,’ he said to the Defence forum during the visit.

This was demonstrated

Main demonstration: Digital targeting and drone defence

In a fictious tactical scenario, information from remotely operated sensors and a drone swarm in the field, was combined to find and send target data to the Armed Forces battlefield management system norBMS and onwards to the fire support command and control system ODIN to end up as a fire mission for tube artillery.

Man-unmanned teaming (MUM-T)

An armed unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) where both platform and weapon are controlled from the same control station.

Here, FFI collaborated with Kongsberg, which brought a weapon station that was mounted on FFI’s UGV.

‘We’re working on protocols for how such vehicles should be controlled. If Norway is to operate its UGVs together with forces from other NATO countries, it’s important that they can cooperate,’ explains research director Kim Mathiassen.

‘We also look at which cameras and sensors are needed for such a UGV to be controlled in a good way, how video and information should be presented to the operator.’

During LandX, the UGV was controlled with a handheld gaming controller. Video from the UGV was sent over a 5G connection to the control station and shown on a computer screen. Researchers had developed the software that connected the controller to the vehicle.

‘Fjernsyn’ – remotely operated sensors in a network

The researchers placed electro-optical and infrared cameras, acoustic sensors, and radars in the field. In professional terms, this is called a distributed sensor network. Information from these sensors forms a situational awareness in a combat management system. In short, it gives soldiers a better overview of what is happening.

‘The main goal of the project is to develop an infrastructure for moving information from the sensors to those who make decisions on the battlefield,’ explains Katrine Mygland Dybwad.

‘We wanted to test a complex network with many sensors and different communication solutions. In the weeks leading up to the demonstration, we worked to verify the infrastructure,’ explains Dybwad.

Elinor – passive radar detection and geolocation.

How can we detect radars without being seen ourselves?

FFI has developed a tool that maps radio transmitters and radars in an area (builds a picture of electromagnetic radiation in an area). The system, which has been named Elinor, is built, designed, coded, programmed, and produced at FFI. The internals are a further development of the radar reflectors used in the Norwegian microsatellites NorSat 3 and the Norwegian-Dutch surveillance satellites SMART MilSpace.

Passive listeners are placed in the terrain or mounted on drones. This is nothing new, however. Radio direction finders have existed since World War I.

‘The greatest innovation with Elinor is the algorithms that process the signals we receive,’ says chief researcher Robert Helseth Macdonald.

‘We can pick up a radar that is active for one second. Then our system will process the signals, show where the radar is located, and tell what kind of radar it is. It says something about what the enemy is about to do.’

At LandX, data from Elinor was incorporated into the situational awareness in norBMS.

‘If the system detects an artillery-locating radar, for example, that’s a very valuable piece of information for those who control a cannon battery.’

Synthetic prototyping and simulator-supported training

In this demonstration, Chief Engineer Dan Helge Bentsen showed how simulation can be used for training, experimentation, and concept development.

The researchers have created a digital twin of FFI’s own drone swarm and link simulation with the swarm’s real ground station. This allows them to digitally scale up the number of drones and test how such a swarm can be used in different ways and in different operations. The synthetic/digital swarm sends its positions to NORCCIS and norBMS. This allows the synthetic swarm to be used as part of real exercises with Norwegian and allied forces.

The Norwegian Army Land Warfare Centre’s Combat Lab has acquired and will test a physical drone swarm from FFI. But first, they will use the simulator to test out operational concepts and applications.

Portable short-range missile

Here, FFI has developed a prototype of a small and lightweight target-seeking missile for the infantry in collaboration with Nammo. It should be able to engage mobile targets up to 1000 meters away. The missile system is inspired by Nammo’s M72, which is a light and cost-effective shoulder-fired anti-armour weapon.

‘The ambition of the project is to demonstrate that we can develop a target-seeking missile that enables the infantry to engage targets at longer ranges, while the missile retains the characteristics that have made M72 relevant for many years,’ explains chief researcher Per Gisle Dalsjø. ‘The formidable technological development of the last 10–15 years has given us very advanced, cheap, and readily available off-the-shelf components. This makes it possible for us to develop and produce such weapons faster and cheaper than before.’

The prototype developed by the research team uses a camera and advanced target tracking software (tracker) that runs on a miniaturized supercomputer to control the missile towards the target. During the tests at LandX, the missile managed to home in and steer into a target from a distance of 600 meters.