Estonian-Croatian defence company Defensphere, which was established in 2021, is developing a situational awareness system that will provide armoured vehicle crews with visibility of the battlefield through the armoured wall of the vehicle.
The Vegvisir solution, which is based on innovative camera systems, sensors and algorithms synthesising the camera images, uses head-mounted displays to provide a mixed-reality overview of what is happening in the immediate surroundings of the vehicle, but also of objects of interest significantly further away: up to 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) from the vehicle.
According to the company’s CEO, Ingvar Pärnamäe, the system is designed to provide visibility for the personnel of various armoured vehicles, enabling them to observe, better orient and more rapidly respond than with traditional solutions currently used on armoured vehicles.
“Vegvisir creates a 360-degree field of vision with a camera and sensor system installed on the armoured vehicle that allows the entire crew to see a real-time, simultaneous, minimum-latency image of the surroundings of the vehicle,” Pärnamäe said in a statement.
In line with NATO’s standards
“It combines four complementary layers of sensors to ensure visibility in a range of tactical situations, both in daylight and, by using thermal sensors, in the dark,” he added.
The solution is being developed in line with NATO’s military standards and is also being integrated with other platforms used on the battlefield, including unmanned land vehicles, stand-alone sensors and battlefield management systems.
The startup raised €550,000 in the first round of investment for the development of the system, increasing the company’s value to €5.5 million.
Cover: Defensphere’s situational awareness system will provide armoured vehicle crews with visibility of the battlefield through the armoured wall of the vehicle. Picture by Defensphere.
