The OCCAR-EA COBRA Programme Division and Elektroniksystem und Logistik GmbH (ESG) have prepared a new Data System Software (DS SW) version for the French and German COBRA Systems. This follows the recent FR COBRA ATLAS Sub-Assembly retrofit, with dedicated software version, and the need to have a common DS SW version for DE and FR COBRA fleets. This new software version was tested during trials with two German COBRA Systems, one system located in Putlos and the other one in Todendorf. These trials were performed from 04 until 07/03/2024, concluded the software qualification and showed to the Nations the overall performance improvement compared to the current software version. After the successful data collection and a thorough data analysis, this software version will be installed on all French already equipped with Boîtier de COMmunication (BCOM) and German COBRA Systems.
COBRA (COunter Battery RAdar) is a Counter-battery radar system developed jointly by Thales, Airbus Defence and Space and Lockheed Martin for the French, British and German Armed Forces. It is a mobile Active electronically scanned array 3D radar based on a wheeled chassis for the purpose of enemy field artillery acquisition. There are believed to be about 20,000 Gallium arsenide integrated circuits in each antenna. This enables the equipment to produce the locations of multiple enemy artillery at extremely long ranges, and the radar is able to cope with saturation type bombardments. In addition there is a high degree of automated software, with high speed circuitry and secure data transmission to escape detection from enemy electronic countermeasures. For the COBRA mid-life upgrade (2024+) an inertial navigation system from iMAR Navigation is used.
COBRA Programme Division achieved a significant milestone by signing a new In Service Support (ISS) contract with ESG Elektroniksystem- und Logistik-GmbH for a duration of 3 years, covering 2023 through 2025. ESG has been a COBRA strategic industrial partner for the COBRA Programme Division since 2012 when the first ISS contract was signed between OCCAR-EA and ESG. Since the current COBRA ISS contract with ESG expires on 31 December 2022, a new contract for the COBRA ISS had to be set up to secure a continued and seamless support on core engineering services. On top of these core services, and following Participating States (PS) Germany and France request, IT-SEC assessment, Safety environmental impact analysis and Occupational hazard assessment as well as annual logistic documentation updates were added to the scope of this new ISS contract.
The Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en matière d’ARmement; OCCAR) is a European intergovernmental organisation that facilitates and manages collaborative armament programmes through their lifecycle between the governments of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. The highest decision-making body within OCCAR as corporate organisation is the Board of Supervisors (BoS). Each OCCAR programmes is supervised by a Programme Board (strategic decisions) and a Programme Committee (operational decisions). The programmes are executed by the OCCAR Executive Administration (OCCAR-EA) in accordance with the decisions of the supervisory bodies. OCCAR-EA is headed by the OCCAR Director and consists of a Central Office and the Programme Divisions. OCCAR-EA employs over 300 staff members.
