Building shared operational understanding in fast-changing defence environments
In defence and security environments, situations change rapidly. The physical environment can shift within minutes: a bridge shown on the map may be destroyed, a road blocked, or terrain features altered. At the same time, GNSS signals may be jammed, degraded, or manipulated. In such conditions, traditional navigation and static map data aren’t sufficient.
When map data is supplemented with near-real-time data, the next bottleneck is interoperability. Operations involve unmanned ground, maritime, and aerial systems from multiple manufacturers. Each system has its own interfaces, data models, and control logic. Satellite observations, sensor data, and map information don’t always combine into a usable shared view quickly.
The goal: Better, faster decision-making
If integrations are done manually, information quickly becomes outdated, decision-making slows, and different actors must rely on partial views. In a multi-platform environment, this isn’t just a technical issue; it is a capability issue affecting operational performance.
Project BadB is one example of the broader need to develop GNSS-free navigation solutions for unmanned systems. In this practical, cross-border collaboration, interoperability is built in from the start.
The challenge: Fragmented data, incomplete understanding
In a military context, information is often distributed, heterogeneous, and uncertain. Operational data doesn’t arrive as a complete whole but is scattered across different formats, systems, and platforms. As a result, satellite observations, sensor data, and map information are difficult to combine quickly into a usable shared view.
In practice, this leads to three things:
- The situational picture is formed from multiple partial views.
- Refining data to support decision-making requires manual work.
- Response speed suffers precisely when it is most needed.
Without a common architecture, a multi-platform environment easily becomes a collection of separate systems.
The solution: Multi-source data integration for resilient situational awareness
In the BadB project, GNSS-free navigation is developed by leveraging satellite imagery, computer vision, image recognition, sensor data, and route planning. From Solita’s perspective, the key question is how these data sources and platforms supporting such capabilities can be made to work together.
The value of such a solution is reflected in practice in the ability to connect a new sensor, platform, or data source without a heavy, separate integration project. This requires a vendor-agnostic integration layer that:
- Transforms different signals and data formats into an interoperable form
- Enables data sharing across unmanned ground, maritime, and aerial platforms without custom point-to-point integrations and
- Supports standardisation (e.g. STANAG) and common interfaces in a multi-actor environment
When the physical environment changes, situational understanding can be updated from multiple data sources without relying on a single signal. When one data source degrades, others can support the overall picture.
We bring architecture and integration expertise to the project, enabling solutions from different actors to be connected into an interoperable whole. We act as a subcontractor to several SMEs and help build the foundation on which smaller actors can bring their specialised solutions.
This is concrete cross-border collaboration, where standardisation and interoperability aren’t by-products but starting points for design.
The benefits: Enabling informed decision-making through interoperable data
Multi-source, near real-time data integration improves decision-making by three key ways:
- More up-to-date data. Routing, control, and operational choices aren’t based solely on static maps or a single signal.
- A more unified situational picture. Different actors and platforms can rely on a more consistent data foundation, improving coordination and clarity of command.
- Improved operational capability in degraded environments. Resilience isn’t created by a single technology, but by an open architecture that combines multiple data sources and enables controlled operation under uncertainty.
In defence and security, situational awareness is increasingly built on data, architecture, and interoperability. When maps, GPS, or GNSS cannot be trusted, the key is how quickly different data sources can be combined into actionable understanding.