Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques FHR
Technological Foundations Across the Entire System Chain
High‑performance sensor systems form the backbone of modern security and defense architectures. Radar, high‑frequency engineering, and signal processing constitute the central technological building blocks.
Fraunhofer FHR develops these technologies along the entire system chain — from components and antennas to signal processing and data‑driven evaluation. The goal is to provide robust, scalable, and flexibly deployable sensor solutions that can be integrated into diverse applications and architectures.
Research Infrastructure and Experimental Systems
A powerful research infrastructure is essential for developing, validating, and assessing modern sensor systems under realistic conditions. Fraunhofer FHR maintains extensive facilities for the development and testing of new technologies, including:
- echo‑free measurement chambers for antenna and signature characterization
- outdoor test ranges and mobile measurement platforms
- experimental radar systems across multiple frequency bands
- airborne test carriers (ULF DELPHIN, various drones)
This infrastructure enables the development, testing, and validation of new technologies under controlled yet realistic conditions. The combination of simulation, hardware development, and experimental evaluation forms the basis for reliable and reproducible results.
Software‑Based Evolution of Sensor Systems
A key innovation approach lies in the software‑based enhancement of existing systems. New functionalities can be integrated through adapted algorithms and flexible architectures without replacing existing hardware. This enables cost‑efficient modernization and rapid adaptation to emerging requirements.
The concept of Software Defined Defense provides the overarching technological framework. It allows systems to be continuously improved through software updates rather than hardware replacements. Software‑based evolution and Software Defined Defense are closely linked, jointly enabling flexible, adaptive, and resource‑efficient use of existing sensor systems. This is particularly relevant as many current systems rely on legacy software architectures — and it offers a decisive operational and technological advantage over purely hardware‑driven modernization strategies.
Cognitive Systems and Data Competence
Cognitive radar systems use insights from past observations to adapt their behavior dynamically. This requires powerful data‑analysis methods and artificial intelligence.
A major strength of Fraunhofer FHR is access to extensive real‑world measurement data used for training and validating such methods. These data enable the development of classification and evaluation techniques with a level of realism that cannot be achieved with synthetic data alone.
In addition, Fraunhofer FHR has comprehensive expertise in model‑based and data‑driven simulation of complex sensor scenarios. This includes the generation of large synthetic datasets and their systematic analysis. A particular focus lies on hybrid approaches that combine real measurement data with synthetic data to develop robust, scalable, and generalizable AI‑based evaluation methods. This combination helps close data gaps, vary scenarios efficiently, and ensure physical realism.
System Integration and Networked Architectures
Fraunhofer FHR participates in numerous national and European research projects. One example is the ASTONISH project, in which alternative surveillance solutions for air‑traffic‑control operations are being developed.
From Concept to Application
The combination of simulation, hardware development, and experimental testing enables rapid transfer of new technologies into demonstrators and operational applications.
For industry partners and public clients, this provides direct access to validated technologies tailored to specific application requirements. We support the entire process — from application‑oriented concept development to qualified demonstration and integration into existing systems — with the goal of minimizing technological risks and achieving operational readiness efficiently.