Shifts in the balance of global power, the war in Ukraine, and extreme weather events intensified by climate change: the world has undergone some radical changes in the space of just a few years. And the importance of security and defence research is growing as a result. We spoke to Alexander Almer, Coordinator of the Security and Defence business area at JOANNEUM RESEARCH, about some of the latest developments.
What are the greatest threats to security in Austria?
Almer: There has been a significant increase in hybrid threats. These involve the coordinated use of methods used by state or non-state actors to garner illegitimate influence. Examples of this include cyberattacks on critical infrastructure, the disruption of democratic decision-making processes through widespread disinformation campaigns, and the use of social media to influence political narratives. Cybersecurity and cybercrime falls under the remit of the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI) and the Austrian Armed Forces. In terms of disaster management, Austria’s fire and ambulance services are very well equipped. In fact, our fire brigades are unique worldwide. But even so, from a technical perspective both the fire service and the armed forces require more assistance systems. And this is where JOANNEUM RESEARCH comes in: we work closely with the Ministry of the Interior and the fire brigades to develop precisely these kinds of assistance systems.
What exactly are they?
Almer: Currently, we are working on projects in the field of UAVs, or unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as and UGVs – which are unmanned ground vehicles. A major project, funded by the European Defence Fund, focuses on building autonomous structures for the evacuation of the injured from the field using uncrewed vehicles and drones. This involves first locating casualties before retrieving them by land or air using autonomous vehicles. It also involves the use of something called “biosignal sensors” which transmit the health status of the injured to the operations centre. In another civilian project, we are working on optimising the interaction between UAVs, UGVs, and operational teams during firefighting operations. In such cases, autonomous air and ground vehicles and various operational teams work alongside one another. Under one scenario, a drone would deployed to provide information. Then, in the operations centre, the data it collects serves as the basis for decision-making on what course of action needs to be taken – such as whether an unmanned vehicle should be sent to the scene or whether human responders are needed. These responders can then access the information that has already been gathered by the air and ground systems. This helps to ensure that the operational forces arrive at the scene with suitable equipment and the number of personnel needed to resolve the situation. This intelligent interaction means that each module must operate at least partially autonomously, and that the drones or vehicles must be intelligent enough both to navigate independently within a predefined area and perform assigned tasks.
You are the coordinator of the Security and Defence business area at JOANNEUM RESEARCH. What are your responsibilities in that role?
Almer: My role involves defining extensive and complex tasks in the civilian and military domains through close cooperation with key stakeholders and aligning the existing expertise within the different JOANNEUM RESEARCH institutes. Development topics require the integration of expertise from all institutes, with individual topics calling for specific specialisations. When it comes down to it, security and defence – which comprises military defence, internal security, and civilian and disaster protection – is ultimately a governmental responsibility. In light of that, it can be a challenge to build and strategically develop a comprehensive competence network with international, national, and regional actors to define future challenges and research priorities. Here, everything hinges on close cooperation with the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of the Interior. On top of that, implementing research projects also requires a thorough understanding of the national and European funding landscape. Besides national programmes here in Austria such as KIRAS, K-PASS, and FORTE, , issued by the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF), the Horizon Europe Civil Security for Society cluster, the European Defence Fund (EDF), and the European Defence Agency (EDA) are all significant at the European level. Defining military projects requires close coordination with the BMLV, basing them on the defence research strategy to pursue long-term objectives.
What topics does JOANNEUM RESEARCH cover in the field of security and defence?
Almer: These include technological developments such as assistance systems, partially and fully autonomous ground and air-based systems, cybersecurity, communication, sensor, and simulation technologies, as well as AI-supported image analysis methods and cooperative management approaches with partially and fully autonomous systems. Developing materials, medical wound care, and biosensor-solutions-based vital signs monitoring also play a role. Complex security-related solutions require multidisciplinary approaches as well as the integration of various technologies. One particular challenge, for example, is the partially/fully autonomous evacuation of injured individuals, which is currently being implemented in an international EDF-funded project. Disaster protection and the protection of critical infrastructure are of particular importance. At the national level, the disaster protection departments of the federal provinces are responsible, with close coordination with the BMI and BMLV in disaster situations. The goal is to pool institute-wide competencies and develop innovative assistance, management, and forecasting systems in cooperation with stakeholders.
Which topics are set to become increasingly important in future?
Almer: Artificial intelligence is a cross-cutting theme that plays a role in most areas that are relevant to security and defence research. We’re intensively engaging with AI and have already built significant expertise in this area within the company. The ultimate future topic is quantum technology, and we are taking initial steps in this area. Its potential is extremely high – both in the military and civilian security domains. It’s not only about quantum cryptography – i.e., communication security – but also extends to security in navigation: through jamming and spoofing, signals can be manipulated, rendering positions based on GPS or Galileo inaccurate, which would make many applications ineffective.
Interview: Petra Mravlak
More Information
- JOANNEUM RESEARCH: Geschäftsfeld Sicherheit und Verteidigung
- Bundesministerium für Inneres (BMI)
- Bundesministerium für Finanzen (BMF)
- Bundesministerium für Landesverteidigung (BMLV)
- Österreichische Forschungsförderungsgesellschaft
- European Defence Fund (EDF)
- European Defence Agency (EDA)
- KIRAS / K-PASS Sicherheitsforschung
- FORTE
- Horizon Europe