UK MoD unveils first steps for British Army Watchkeeper replacement
Project Corvus will look for a replacement for the Watchkeeper Mk1 uncrewed aerial system (UAS) that was retired from service in the British Army in March 2025.
CARMENTA looks into next-generation aircraft self-protection
Elettronica leads a 14-company team exploring new aircraft self-protection systems. (Photo: Elettronica/Emsopedia)
EU-funded programme seeks to find new countermeasures for aircraft.
Elettronica is engaged in developing new aircraft self-protection systems (SPSs) under the EU-funded CARMENTA project, the Italian company confirmed on 23 July.
As project coordinator with an €8.1 million ($9.5 million) grant under the European Defence Industrial Development Programme (EDIDP), Elettronica heads a large team comprising Airbus Deutschland, Airbus Defence and Space, Airbus Helicopters España, BPTI, DA Group, Indra, Hensoldt Sensors, Indra, Leonardo, MBDA, Saab, Terma and Thales.
SPSs developed under the 30-month CARMENTA project will equip fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft to counter ‘a wide spectrum of current and evolving threats using different countermeasures’, Elettronica noted in a 23 July announcement.
‘Artificial intelligence and machine learning, alongside open architecture, will ease the integration of these self-protection systems on current and future platforms. These approaches will let equipment be easily updated as it moves through its service life.’
In a separate EDIDP-funded project, Elettronica is working with Leonardo on developing a new C-UAS solution for mini-UAVs and micro-UAVs, under the Joint European System for Countering Unmanned Aerial Systems programme.
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