To address a complex and constantly changing threat environment, the European Defence Fund is supporting the European Union's STORE (Shared daTabase for Optronics image Recognition and Evaluation), a collaborative research project coordinated by Thales.

Bringing together a consortium of 20 partners (manufacturers, SMEs and academics) from 8 EU Member States and Norway, this project aims to build a shared image database secured by advanced technology and to develop and evaluate artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms dedicated to data analysis of ground platform imaging systems.

STORE will lay the foundations for Europe's first shared, scalable database of defence imagery and explore different algorithm solutions for threats detection, according to Thales. In particular, it will address issues of data governance and the cost-effective development of sovereign technologies.

By combining optronic sensors with AI-based analysis techniques, STORE will set-up future functionalities related to augment war fighters’ perception of the battlefield, enhancing their tactical situational awareness, shortening the decision loop to accelerate reaction times and, consequently, improve survivability.