Rheinmetall awarded European contract for soldiers system.

Overcoming multiple competitors, Rheinmetall has won the first request for proposals for preliminary studies relating to European Union defence research financed by the EU’s European Defence Union.

Modular and flexible soldier systems solutions: light, medium and extended version ( source: Rheinmetall Defence )

Under a project known as “Generic Open Soldier Systems Reference Architecture”, or GOSSRA, the European Commission has put the Düsseldorf-based tech group in charge of a consortium consisting of partners from nine different EU member states. “We are very pleased that our proposal has met with success in this early phase of the formation of the European Defence Union. It gives added momentum to our strategy of expanding the Group’s EU-themed activities in Brussels in pursuit of further European Union projects aimed at strengthening Europe’s strategic autonomy with regard to security and defence policy”, declares Dr Thomas Weise, who heads the Rheinmetall Group’s recently opened Representative Office for EU and NATO Affairs in Brussels.

Under the GOSSRA project, studies will be conducted into developing an open reference architecture as the basis of EU-wide standardized soldier systems. This includes electronics, voice and data communication, software solutions, man-machine interfaces, sensors and effectors. As the maker of the German Bundeswehr’s IdZ-ES soldier system, the Canadian military’s Argus system and the recently unveiled Gladius 2.0, Rheinmetall possesses cutting edge expertise in this domain.

The project is an important step in improving interoperability during joint operations conducted by forces from multiple EU member nations. In order to take on this task, Rheinmetall has assembled a consortium consisting of Europe’s most important soldier systems companies (Indra and GMV Aerospace and Defence of Spain, Leonardo SpA and Larimart of Italy, the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research TNO, Poland’s iTTi Sp. Z.o.o., the Portuguese company Tekever ASDS Lda. and SAAB AB of Sweden), successfully leading it through the proposal phase.