Press release

Free for publication on February 21, 2020 at 6.15 p.m. (CET+1)

Bittium Continues the Development of ESSOR High Data Rate Waveform as a Member of the a4ESSOR Joint Venture as Germany Joins the ESSOR Programme

Oulu, Finland February 21, 2020 – a4ESSOR S.A.S. (Alliance for ESSOR), a multi-national joint venture which is developing European Secure Software Defined Radio (SDR) technology, has today announced a contract amendment awarded by OCCAR (Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en matière d'ARmement) which allows Germany to join the ESSOR (European Secure SOftware defined Radio) programme and its OC1 (Operational Capability 1) phase as a new participating state alongside existing partners Finland, France, Italy, Poland and Spain. Also, as part of the contract amendment, the German company Rohde & Schwarz joined the a4ESSOR consortium.

The contract amendment will replace the ESSOR OC1 contract signed in November 2017. The duration of the new ESSOR OC1 contract is 63 months, as of January 2018 onwards, and the total value for a4ESSOR is approximately EUR 100 million. Work will be shared between the six companies participating in a4ESSOR: Bittium (Finland), Indra (Spain), Leonardo (Italy), Radmor (Poland), Rohde & Schwarz (Germany) and Thales (France). The work is split in relation to the shares of the member states, where Bittium's share is significantly lower than the directly calculated proportion would be. The parties have agreed that the shares will not be published. The contract does not affect Bittium's financial outlook for the year 2020 published in the Financial Statement Bulletin 2019 on February 13, 2020.

About ESSOR

The aim of the ESSOR program is to develop pan-European Software Defined Radio (SDR) technology in order to improve the ability of armed forces to cooperate in coalition operations. The program was initiated in 2009 under the umbrella of the European Defence Agency (EDA) ?and it is currently sponsored by the governments of Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, and Spain. The joint venture Alliance for ESSOR (a4ESSOR S.A.S.) has been chosen by the Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en matière d'ARmement (OCCAR) to manage the industrial consortium, whose members are Bittium from Finland, Indra from Spain, Leonardo from Italy, Radmor from Poland, Rohde & Schwarz from Germany and Thales from France. In addition to the European High Data Rate Waveform, the program has produced and validated the definition for a European SDR Architecture, which has been ported and qualified on six different European platforms. The interoperability benefits of the waveform are regularly demonstrated through network tests involving different national platforms.

Further information:

Jari Sankala
Senior Vice President, Defense & Security
Tel. +358 40 344 3507
Email: defense(a)bittium.com

a4ESSOR press release: http://www.occar.int/germany-adopts-essor-high-data-rate-waveform-hdr-wf-developed-a4essor-joint-venture?redirect=/news%23news

Distribution: Main media

Bittium - Defense & Security

Bittium is a trusted Finnish company with over 30 years of experience in advanced radio communication technologies. For Defense & Security market Bittium provides the most modern products and solutions for tactical & secure communications. The products and solutions for tactical communications bring broadband data and voice to all troops across the battlefield. For secure communications Bittium offers proven mobile devices and cyber security solutions certified up to CONFIDENTIAL level.  Net sales in 2019 were EUR 75.2 million and operating profit was EUR 6.3 million. Bittium is listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki Exchange. www.bittium.com