HENSOLDT and IBM Germany have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate in the field of Software-Defined Defence architectures. The aim of the cooperation is to develop selected software functionalities for the MDOcore software suite developed by HENSOLDT, whilst taking national sovereignty into account, thereby significantly accelerating the implementation of concepts in the field of Software-Defined Defence.
With MDOcore, HENSOLDT aims to network weapon systems and sensors on the battlefield using software, consolidate highly sensitive military data from different systems, and perform complex data analyses for data fusion in order to orchestrate operational effects. The focus is no longer on individual military platforms, but on a highly dynamic interconnection of systems across domains, data spaces and software architectures.
MDOcore is data management software that transforms unstructured and distributed sensor big data into context-rich, action-oriented insights. MDOcore orchestrates data from the military edge at the sensor or weapon system, through fog data centres on the battlefield, to large, secure multi-cloud data centres, and uses semantic technologies and AI-supported data analysis to automatically identify patterns and anomalies in data sets. Automated pattern recognition in heterogeneous and distributed databases offers significant added value, particularly for military and intelligence applications. MDOcore can be operated both as Software-as-a-Service in a security-certified cloud and as on-premises installations at the customer’s site.
As part of the proposed collaboration, IBM Germany will contribute its technological expertise, particularly in the areas of multi-tenant data platforms and management, sovereign and trustworthy artificial intelligence, automation and software engineering. This includes, amongst other things, technologies from the IBM watsonx and Automation Platforms, as well as IBM Consulting assets from the military sector. These enable the holistic integration of the individual modules, ensuring a multi-tenant, cross-module data flow for the corresponding consolidation, analysis and user-oriented provision of data. The aim is to shorten development times and reduce risks in software development where proven and security-compliant technologies are already available.
“Software-Defined Defence requires powerful software and data architectures that can be flexibly integrated into complex and sovereign defence systems,” says Sven Heursch, Chief Digital Officer (CDO) at HENSOLDT. “With technology experts such as IBM Germany, we can draw on established technologies and comprehensive software expertise whilst taking sovereignty requirements into account, thereby accelerating the development of key components of MDOcore. At the same time, as a systems integrator, we retain full architectural, integration and data sovereignty.”
“For IBM, the sovereign, trustworthy and resilient design of a Software-Defined Defence platform is a key guiding principle. The planned collaboration with HENSOLDT allows us to uniquely combine proven standard software and our military-proven IT assets with HENSOLDT’s exceptional sensor and systems expertise. Through this deep, cross-domain data integration, MDOcore realises its full potential and becomes a key enabler for information-based mission command,” adds Wolfgang Wendt, Chairman of the Management Board of IBM Deutschland GmbH and General Manager of IBM Germany, Austria and Switzerland.