In mid-November 2022, the final operational and performance evaluation tests of the prototype system developed in the framework of the AVICOM research project were successfully completed at the camp of the 1st Army Aviation Brigade (1st ΑΑΒ), of the Hellenic Army. The Hellenic Ministry of Defense (1st ΑΑΒ), the University of Thessaly which is the coordinator of the program, Intracom Defense (IDE) and the SMSE (small and medium-sized enterprise) Inspire Web participate in the project.
The research project “AVICOM” (T2EDK-03852), which is funded by the “RESEARCH – CREATE – INNOVATE” program, aims at developing an integrated telecommunications system for networking of the civil protection means involved in natural disasters or rescue operations. The proposed architecture supports the uninterruptible exchange of information between various types of means and ground stations, aiming at increasing the “situational awareness”, the faster and more efficient decision-making and the optimization of command and control at tactical level.
During the final tests, the uninterruptible communication between the nodes of the system (the helicopters of 1st ΑΑΒ and a Ground Station) was evaluated, through the wireless broadband network communication provided by the WiSPRevolution system developed by IDE, and the alternative cellular network implemented by the University of Thessaly. In parallel, there were performance tests of the operation of the command and control applications developed by IDE and Inspire Web, which display and exchange information through an appropriate communication scheme (API), designed and developed by the team of the University of Thessaly.