FUTURE COMBAT MISSION SYSTEM

The international cooperation programme Future Combat Air System (FCAS) is intended to master these challenges that air combat will bring in the future. The key to success is aircraft-independent mission management based on cross-platform mission services, which together with the mission system of the individual aircraft, form a powerful combined mission system.

This involves nothing less than the merging of various weapon systems of differing dimensions into a superior combined weapon system: a System-of-Systems. This System-of-Systems is based on the premises of information superiority, cooperative mission execution and adaptation to a highly dynamic operational environment as well as expandability and ease of adaptability to a changing capability profile.

To be able to map this multidimensional "sensor-effector system", sustainable solutions in the form of various multifunctional sensors, effectors and data links must be evaluated. In doing so, different platforms must be considered with regard to integration. A suitable framework in training, mission planning, mission execution and mission evaluation, as well as logistics, must also be developed. In addition, flexible interfaces and functionalities for mission management must be developed.

With the Future Combat Mission System, decision chains with flexible and powerful sensors, processing systems and effectors will be embedded in the network of the overall airborne system of manned and unmanned platforms, carriers and command and control systems. This is how the so-called Combat Cloud is achieved and successfully guarantees missions as a complex overall system.

The overarching goal is to implement the functionality of the networked sensor and effector systems in a platform-independent manner and to be able to use them in real joint and combined operations.

FCMS offers broad and technologically profound national technology know-how for the FCAS/NGWS programme and thus ensures the required national ability to contribute and future-proof in the field of 6th Generation Mission Systems.