idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
idw - Informationsdienst
Wissenschaft
Ideas for protecting unmanned systems put to the test
SPECTRA Pitch Days: 14 groups passed with their solutions for electronic drone defence
On 7 and 8 October 2025, 44 groups from academia, industry and the start-up scene presented their ideas at the SPECTRA Challenge Pitch Days at Erding Air Base. They had five minutes to present their approaches to defending against electronic threats to unmanned systems to the expert jury from @Agentur für Innovation in der Cybersicherheit GmbH (Cyberagentur), the Cyber Innovation Hub of the German Armed Forces (CIHBw) and the Innovation Laboratory System Soldier (InnoLabSysSdt).
The SPECTRA Challenge Pitch Days met with great interest and offered two days of intensive exchange at the Erding Air Base. Forty-four groups from companies, universities and colleges, start-ups and research institutions, as well as individual researchers, competed to defend their ideas for protecting unmanned systems from electronic attacks.
Each group had five minutes to convince the expert jury from the Cyberagentur, the CIHBw and the InnoLabSysSdt of the Armed Forces. The approaches presented ranged from software-based detection systems and innovative hardware solutions to completely new strategies for dealing with electronic interference signals.
The jury was impressed by the diverse innovations in the field of electronic warfare as creative solutions. The breaks between presentations provided an opportunity for intensive exchange – many participants took advantage of the opportunity to network and explore potential collaborations.
At the end of the two-day event, the jury decided on a selection of the most promising projects, which will be further developed in the coming weeks with targeted coaching.
Ten groups were nominated for the practical track, which will develop their concepts into application-oriented prototypes:
• ESPARGOS (a TGU of TTI GmbH) (university)
• TOPseven GmbH & Co. KG (company)
• Group "Autonomous Urban Resource Utilisation System" (university)
• STARK (company)
• Raydiant RF Ltd (company)
• Yurik B.V. /Dremian (company)
In the Moonshot Track, ten groups were also given the opportunity to pursue their visionary early-stage ideas:
• Fiberdome Systems Ltd. (company)
• FATAL Industries (company)
• Clausthal University of Technology (university)
• Orbint (university)
• Soron Systems Ltd. (company)
• VisionSpace Technologies Ltd. (company)
• ACTRANS Ltd. (company)
• Wardspire | Vouwen Ltd (company)
This means that four companies and two universities or spin-offs have qualified for the Practice Track. The initiators of the SPECTRA Challenge expect six companies and two universities or spin-offs to participate in the Moonshot Track.
The aim is to develop the first practical solutions by Practice Week in early December 2025. During the week, the applicability and effectiveness of the concepts will be tested under realistic conditions.
The SPECTRA Challenge was launched by Cyberagentur, the German Armed Forces' Cyber Innovation Hub and the System Soldier Innovation Laboratory to promote innovative solutions against electronic threats such as jamming, spoofing and signal hijacking. With 46 qualified submissions from 17 countries, the competition had already generated a strong international response in its first phase – the Pitch Days now marked the transition to the decisive development phase.
"With this challenge, we want to prove that an interdisciplinary approach combining research and practice can lead to new solutions and application maturity in the shortest possible time. To this end, we have joined forces with the Cyber Innovation Hub and the System Soldier Innovation Lab. This allows us to prove that innovation can arise unbureaucratically where civilian thinking and military practice complement each other productively," said Prof. Dr Christian Hummert, Scientific Director, Cyberagentur.
"Electronic warfare is no longer an abstract threat, but a reality – whether on the battlefield or in civilian airspace. Anyone using unmanned systems today must assume that their sensors and communications will be the aim of enemy jamming. With initiatives such as the SPECTRA Challenge, we are laying the foundation for developing concrete protection mechanisms from innovative ideas – and at the same time gaining valuable insights for the further development of our own drone defence systems." Sven Weizenegger, Head of the Bundeswehr Cyber Innovation Hub.
Further information:
https://challenge.Cyberagentur.de
https://www.Cyberagentur.de
https://www.cyberinnovationhub.de
https://www.bundeswehr.de/de/organisation/ausruestung-baainbw/organisation/wiweb
Contacts:
@Agentur für Innovation in der Cybersicherheit GmbH
Große Steinstraße 19
06108 Halle (Saale)
Michael Lindner
Press Officer
Tel.: +49 151 44150 645
Email: presse@cyberagentur.de
Cyber Innovation Hub of the German Armed Forces
BWI GmbH (limited liability company)
Auf dem Steinbüchel 22
53340 Meckenheim
Press contact:
Arno Schupp
Head of Communication & Events
Tel.: +49 151 54 019 664
Email: arno.schupp@bwi.de
Innovation Laboratory System Soldier
Military Science Institute
for Materials and Supplies (WIWeB)
Institutsweg 1
85435 Erding
Press contact:
Press and Information Centre AIN
Tel.: +49 261 400-12821
Email: pizain@bundeswehr.org
Dr. Julian Laufs, project manager of the SPECTRA Challenge
https://www.cyberagentur.de/en/press/ideen-fuer-den-schutz-unbemannter-systeme-i...
https://challenge.Cyberagentur.de
https://www.Cyberagentur.de
https://www.cyberinnovationhub.de
https://www.bundeswehr.de/de/organisation/ausruestung-baainbw/organisation/wiweb
Dr. Julian Laufs, project manager of the SPECTRA Challenge from the Cyberagentur, opened the Pitch D ...
Source: CIHBw
Copyright: CIHBw
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