R&D

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
SELEX Sistemi Integrati carries out R&D activities for 20% of its revenues.
The company implemented an innovative investment policy. On the one hand, investments were made for the implementation of the mission in Large Systems, with R&D programmes aimed at the research of dual use technologies for integrating heterogeneous asset networks and for the development of architecture and subsystems for operational centres and networks, so as to respond to growing demands for highly integrated systemic solutions. In particular, two laboratories are activated for prototyping developments both in a tactical and strategic environment and for dual use applications.
Other innovative programmes for the company concern the development of systems for the naval defence market, represented by the new Kronos 3D naval surveillance radar and by the modular and scalable Naval Combat system for medium-sized ships.

2006 was also characterised by considerable investments in the finalisation and consolidation of traditional products. In the terrestrial sensor arrays, fixed long-range surveillance tri-dimensional radar products are practically finalised (FADR - with the finalising of integration and testing activities), and the mobile type (DADR - with the completion of the new Processor Unit, with particular reference to the data extractor and to the conversion system on carrier, to the RF/IF receiver and to the planar antenna).
In the air traffic management and airport systems business, the consolidated investment policy is the continuous response to the evolution of the business operational requirements, set by international standards, characterised by high levels of operational security efficiency/complexity. This investment thread ensures maintenance of the product portfolio state-of-the-art (primary radars with COTS ATCR-33 S receiver, secondary radars upgrading, air traffic control centres with the development of Cardamom middleware and finalising of the product baseline SW and CLIO control systems and surface systems), as well as the development of innovative products (satellite navigation, multilateral subsystems for airport applications, ground/on-board communication systems).
SELEX Sistemi Integrati also invested in enabling technologies:

• systemic technologies, with research into environments of integration, simulation and validation of system operational performances, based on distributed structures and with requirements for encrypted information exchanges and with the development of a personal approach for the designing of highly integrated complex systems (MDAF)
• technical domains of
  • advanced "network centric" architectures for interconnecting systems in "systems of systems" functional analysis and simulation, engineering and designing of integrated systems
  • distributed calculation architectures based on middleware, data distribution, information and data fusion
  • net-centric technologies (Service Oriented Architecture, Data Distribution Systems, SW Agents, semantic Layers, distributed robotics)
  • sensor technologies (active electronic-scanning multifunction antennas, passive radars, compact receivers, electro-optical data fusion,..)
  • base technologies for the development of advanced components (GaAs and GaN foundry, microelectronics and photonics)
• emerging technologies in photonics and nano-technologies.