Historic agreement will see Danish Armed Forces C4ISR systems supported for next 20 years

One of the world’s leading suppliers of C4ISR systems has signed a significant 20-year framework agreement with Danish Department of Defence.

The contract between Systematic and the Danish Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organisation (DALO) will ensure that the whole of the Danish Armed Forces benefit from the SitaWare Suite - currently in use in over 45 nations worldwide including the US and Germany.

SitaWare has been used in the Danish Army since 2008 with the agreement set to modernise systems across the Navy, Air Force, Home Guard and Emergency Services Agency. Under the terms, Systematic must also contribute to the future development of new security and infrastructure solutions, as well as deliver projects and consulting services in connection with the C4ISR system.

"SitaWare has played a central role in the digitalisation of the Armed Forces for the past 15 years, and Systematic has been a valuable collaboration partner,” said Lieutenant General Kim Jesper Jørgensen, Director of the Ministry of Defence's Materiel and Procurement Agency.

“We are faced with an extensive digitisation task which will be hugely important for the future operational work of the Armed Forces. It is against this background that we now enter a long-term, strategic collaboration with Systematic, so that we ensure effective data coherence and data exchange of the Armed Forces' operational systems across all forces."

History of delivering

The defence department will benefit from Systematic’s long history as a reliable and pioneering delivery partner. As well as the military software, the company has developed and delivered:

• The Columna critical care solution for handling patient data in three of five Danish regions.
• The streamlining and organisation of library services across Denmark, Sweden and Norway with the Cicero suite.
• The backbone of the Danish interbank system.
• The Bifrost communications systems for all Danish police vehicles.

Future-proof national defence

For Systematic’s CEO Michael Holm, the agreement signifies the company’s contribution to helping strengthen Denmark's defence for the future.

"We look forward to further developing the new infrastructure solutions and generally supporting the digital transformation that the Department for Defence is undertaking,” he said. “When SitaWare was chosen as the central system in the digitisation of the Army 15 years ago, it was the starting point for a global export success for Systematic. We are sincerely grateful that we can continue our good cooperation with the Danish defense force, which kick-started our global adventure.”

The framework agreement paves the way for similar interest from other countries, all looking to assure their command-and-control systems within the current global security climate. As well as being the world's largest supplier of C4ISR systems, Systematic’s SitaWare Suite is used by most NATO allies and partners.

"We need to be able to cooperate effectively with our allies in NATO,” said Major General Gunner Arpe Nielsen, Chief of the Army. “Our deployed forces have greatly benefited from SitaWare, which has also proven to be an effective tool in joint NATO exercises, increaseing the security of the deployed soldiers and ensuring information-sharing between the allied units."

He is under no doubt that data will drive future defence and that the ability to integrate systems that can also exchange data across national forces and international allies will prove a decisive factor.

"Seen in that light, the strategic framework agreement with Systematic is an important step on that journey," says Maj Gen Arpe Nielsen.