a4ESSOR and OCCAR sign procurement contract to deploy ESSOR High Data Rate Waveform

The Alliance for European Secure Software Defined Radio (a4ESSOR), a multinational joint venture that develops secure software-defined radio (SDR) technology, has signed a procurement contract with Europe’s intergovernmental Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR) to carry out the capability deployment of the ESSOR High Data Rate Waveform (EHDRWF), a4ESSOR announced on 3 November 2025.

The waveform can be ported to national software-defined radios and, through this unique approach, any nation can use its own radio and be interoperable with other nations in their tactical communications. The contract for the so called ESSOR Development Stage #4 (ES4) is valued in excess of EUR 47 million.

The six countries involved and their respective industry leaders – Finland (Bittium), France (Thales), Germany (Rohde & Schwarz), Italy (Leonardo), Poland (Radmor) and Spain (Indra) – have subsequently been working to add new features, such as electronic protection measures and support of modern cryptographic standards, leading to several successful interoperability demonstrations and qualification tests and to the adoption of the EHDRWF as NATO STANAG 5651 in 2023.

Under the new contract a4ESSOR will design a common mission framework aimed at shared planning capability of network parameters of the EHDRWF. Once implemented in the command-and-control system of each nation, the mission framework will ensure high interoperability at operational level, allowing quick and accurate deployment of multinational EHDRWF networks.

a4ESSOR will conduct field tests of the EHDRWF on the various radio systems to assess the maturity, performance and reliability of the waveform in various scenarios, providing valuable feedback for future waveform enhancements. The field tests will also include trials in different operational environments (urban, rural and hilly terrain), line-of-sight/non-line-of-sight and mobility scenarios, as well as analysis of waveform performances under potential interference conditions. Furthermore, the contract will define an ESSOR in-service support framework and will set up an ESSOR laboratory as the reference for interoperability validation.

Lino Laganà, president and general manager of a4ESSOR, was quoted in a press release by the alliance as saying, “a4ESSOR has been active for over 16 years, playing a crucial role to develop and test ESSOR capabilities and technologies to address multinational defence requirements as a valuable solution in addition to the existing legacy waveforms. The ESSOR HDRWF standard is capable to facilitate seamless communications across diverse radio platforms and nations, affirming its potential to enhance collaborative defence operations across Europe and NATO countries.

“The mission framework will allow a quantum leap forward in terms of interoperability among armed forces from various countries, as it will define what’s needed to achieve interoperability in mission planning and management,” he added. “We will work at defining the required solutions towards their integration onto command-and-control systems of the various countries. It’s an evolution enabler, from technical to operational interoperability.”

Laganà concluded, “The project aligns with the European Union’s strategic objectives of strengthening defence co-operation, enhancing autonomy and improving the efficiency of combined military missions. By equipping EU member states with secure, interoperable, and scalable communication solutions, the initiative strengthens Europe’s collective ability to respond to threats and ensures seamless co-ordination in operations.”