► A4ESSOR and OCCAR sign new procurement contract to advance development of interoperable tactical communications with new essor Waveform

a4ESSOR S.A.S (Alliance for ESSOR – European Secure Software Defined Radio), a multinational joint venture that develops secure software defined radio (SDR) technology, has signed a procurement contract amendment with the intergovernmental Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR). Under the contract amendment a4ESSOR will develop a new ESSOR waveform, the ESSOR Narrow Band Waveform – ENBWF – based on the currently almost finalised STANAG 5630 ed.2 candidate – that can be ported to national software-defined radios sharing the same architecture. This standardized approach, already successfully implemented with the ESSOR High Data Rate Waveform – EHDRWF –means that all ESSOR nations and potentially third-party nations, will be able to use their own national software-defined radios and be interoperable with other nations in their tactical communications with both ESSOR EHDRWF and ENBWF waveforms. The contract amendment for the ESSOR Development Stage #4 (ES4) brings the total contract value to over 211 million EUR.

In autumn 2025, a capability deployment procurement contract valued in excess of 47 million EUR had been signed for the ESSOR High Data Rate Waveform – EHDRWF.

Under the contract, a4ESSOR was requested to design a common mission framework aimed at shared planning capability of network parameters of the EHDRWF. Once implemented in the command-and-control system of each nation, the mission framework will ensure high interoperability at operational level, allowing quick and accurate deployment of multinational EHDRWF networks.

The six nations involved and their respective industry leaders (Finland – Bittium, France – Thales, Germany – Rohde & Schwarz, Italy – Leonardo, Poland – Radmor, Spain – Indra) have been working to add new features to the EHDRWF, such as electronic protection measures and support of modern cryptographic standards, leading to several successful interoperability demonstrations and qualification tests and to the adoption of ESSOR High Data Rate Waveform as NATO STANAG 5651 in 2023.

a4ESSOR will conduct field tests of the EHDRWF on the various radio systems to assess the maturity, performance and reliability of the waveform in various scenarios, providing valuable feedback for future waveform enhancements. The field test will also include trials in different operational environments (urban, rural and hilly terrains), line-of-sight/non-line-of-sight and mobility scenarios, as well as analysis of waveform performances under potential interference conditions. Furthermore, the contract signed in 2025 was intended to design an ESSOR in-service support framework and will set up an ESSOR laboratory as the reference for interoperability validation.

Lino Laganà, President and General Manager of a4ESSOR, said “a4ESSOR has been active for over 17 years playing a crucial role to develop and test ESSOR capabilities and technologies to address multinational defence requirements as a valuable solution in addition to the existing legacy waveforms.  With the development of the ESSOR Narrow-Band Waveform (ENBWF), we’re making sure the most extensively used waveform among land forces in operation takes a further step ahead towards NATO standard status, thus boosting the advancement to greater interoperability armed forces from various countries.  

Lino Laganà continued “The project aligns with the European Union’s strategic objectives of strengthening defence cooperation, enhancing autonomy, and improving the efficiency of combined military missions. By equipping EU member states with secure, interoperable, and scalable communication solutions, the initiative strengthens Europe’s collective ability to respond to threats and ensures seamless coordination in operations.”