The Royal Military Academy (RMA) of Belgium is a military institution responsible for the basic academic and military training of future officers in the Belgian Defence department (www.rma.ac.be). RMA also conducts scientific research at university level for projects funded by the Belgian Defence department or external sources and is fully recognized as a university, fulfilling the same criteria as civilian universities.
At the RMA, researchers help push the boundaries of cutting-edge science and technology, working on complex and sometimes sensitive projects in land, sea, and air – and between cyber and space, to create innovations that will help ensure our continued peace and security. Researchers at RMA see the real-world impact of their research as innovative results are put into action by the Ministry of Defence or project related entities.
One fundamental discipline at the core of those innovations is Signal Processing, a fascinating area where R&D opportunities are larger than ever. Signal processing lays the foundation for many research projects developed in the Communications, Information, Systems and Sensors (CISS) department, where junior and senior researchers work in processing of data from wide area of sensors, including underwater sonar, as well as AI-based multi-sensory processing. CISS participates to the development of national, European and NATO R&D projects on MCM, underwater surveillance and maritime situational awareness, and contributes as an expert to different MCM fora at EU and NATO level.
Other key laboratory at RMA working in MCM is the Robotics and Autonomous Systems unit (RAS) attached to the Mechanics department. This unit focuses on research related to autonomous vehicles in aerial, maritime and ground domain for military applications. The RAS unit has also a fourth branch tackling the problem of countermeasure and especially counter-UxV and counter-AI operations. The RAS laboratory has extensive experience in developing cutting edge technologies for unmanned operations either via Belgian or European projects. RAS unit has also experience in maritime autonomous navigation and multi-agent collaboration, aiming to develop the future architecture of European military ground vehicles.