Team Protect is led by PA Consulting to deliver the UK Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) Project CRENIC, which aims to develop software-defined Force Protection Electronic Countermeasure (ECM) solutions to protect UK forces – including soldiers, vehicles and military bases around the world – against improvised explosive devices. Leonardo UK is part of the team, alongside Leidos UK and Marshall Land Systems.

CRENIC is focused on the complexity of threats, how rapidly they arrive, and how they appear in the electromagnetic spectrum, so Team Protect is tasked with responding to the changing threats much more quickly than traditional equipment programmes could do. This includes threats posed by the newest generation of communication technologies – such as 4G, 5G and the Internet of Things (IOT) – which, collectively, threaten a wider section of the electromagnetic spectrum.

As well as system integration being a fundamental requirement of CRENIC, interoperability is a crucial consideration in terms of the impact caused by turning on jammers and avoiding fratricide incidents. This impacts both UK communications systems and those of our allies.

To allow for wider industry participation, Crenic follows the Defence Cyber and Electromagnetic Activities (CEMA) Architecture, which will mean new technology and capabilities being built with open standards that allow the Defence sector to use the solutions in future projects and encourage greater collaboration with the UK’s partners and allies.