How MDOcore becomes the digital backbone of network-enabled battlespace management
Armed forces collect more data than ever before – yet at the decisive moment, the answers are often missing. Sensors detect, systems report, command posts analyse, and still the operational picture remains fragmented. Why is that? And what must change for armed forces to not only react within the dynamics of modern conflicts, but to command and operate in a genuinely network-enabled manner? MDOcore provides the answer – marking the beginning of a new, integrated operational reality.
The data paradox of modern armed forces
Anyone observing today’s military operations centres recognises a paradox of modern warfare: never before has so much data been available – and rarely has it been so difficult to derive the right decisions from it at the required speed.
Modern forces generate enormous volumes of sensor and platform data, yet these are often stored in incompatible formats or remain siloed within individual weapon systems. Data streams run side by side, but seldom converge. Systems and information remain fragmented.
Much must be manually aggregated, queried in parallel or even interpreted repeatedly. This delays decisions – and leaves valuable information unused.
This situation is not the result of lacking technology but of a structural legacy spanning decades: military systems were developed, optimised and procured in separate lines. Each platform follows its own logic, uses its own data formats and speaks its own interfaces. The result is a multitude of isolated information islands – creating a huge burden for soldiers who must make time-critical decisions.
“We have a large number of excellent sensors,” an officer from an army command notes, “but we do not have a system that immediately brings everything together.” This sentiment can be heard in various forms across almost all branches of service. Although modern units generate more usable information than ever before, it is mostly fragmented – and therefore seldom available in a form that enables immediate action.
Why the operational picture remains incomplete
A look at the civilian technology sector often leads to a misconception. Smartphones guide us effortlessly through cities, combining GPS, map data, traffic flows and user data. Vehicles merge sensor inputs to deliver driver-assistance functions. Streaming services analyse immense data volumes in real time. So why shouldn’t a military operational picture achieve similar elegance?
The answer is sobering: because military reality is fundamentally different. Classical weapon systems were developed for highly specific applications, are proprietary and therefore tied to a single manufacturer. System modifications are time-consuming, expensive and data is available only in isolated silos.
Military information also arises in environments where computing power and bandwidth are severely limited – inside armoured vehicles, mobile command posts, ships, airborne sensor platforms – and in operational environments where adversaries actively disrupt, intercept or deny data links.
This is the core problem: military data is generated in distributed, heterogeneous and adverse conditions, encapsulated within silos. It cannot simply be “clicked together”. It must be translated, validated, prioritised, protected and assured. It must be shielded against cyber interference. And it must remain available even when links are disrupted. Only when all of this is achieved can true information dominance emerge – the condition in which armed forces understand the situation faster and more accurately, enabling them to align their forces accordingly.
The new approach: MDOcore as the digital backbone for Multi-Domain Operations
With MDOcore, HENSOLDT has developed a solution that directly addresses these structural fault lines. The software suite elevates information dominance to a new level. It translates, harmonises and fuses data from different weapon systems and operational domains – land, air, sea, cyber and space – via STANAG-compliant interfaces, automatically evaluates sources, consolidates duplicate reports and prioritises information.
MDOcore can also connect systems and sensors across different generations and manufacturers. In most cases, retrofitting is straightforward. The result is a consistent, logically traceable multi-domain operational picture that is available in near real time and under diverse operational conditions.
Thus, MDOcore can be described as a “universal translator of military systems”. As the software performs more than simple networking – it conducts complex translation work.
It aligns data chronologically, verifies origin, assesses credibility, prioritises sensor channels and fuses data from multiple systems into a coherent, validated operational picture.
MDOcore recognises when two sensors report the same adversary, compares the data and transforms fragmented individual reports into a reliable, consolidated picture.
At its core lies a modern cloud-fog-edge architecture. Sensors at the tactical edge pre-process data locally and forward only essential information, while distributed fog and cloud nodes fuse and prioritise data in accordance with military rules of engagement.
Even if individual connections fail, the tightly meshed system continues to operate – a critical advantage over classical command-and-control systems that rely heavily on stable communications.
“We designed MDOcore to function even in degraded environments. The system does not fail when a node goes down – it simply reallocates the remaining resources.”
Operational reality: A glimpse into the field
The impact becomes strikingly clear in multinational formations. A German radar detects a fast-approaching contact. Seconds later, a partner-nation drone provides live imagery from the same direction.
Meanwhile, another system registers unusual electromagnetic emissions. Today, these reports must be manually correlated across several echelons – a process that often fails, takes too long or allows human error to creep in.
With MDOcore, a harmonised common operational picture emerges within seconds. The software identifies correlations, matches timestamps, validates source reliability and provides the command element with a cross-system, cross-domain operational picture that is not only complete but also transparent in its derivation.
The Observe–Orient–Decide–Act cycle is dramatically shortened – in an environment where seconds can determine mission success or loss.
Why the drone myth is misleading
Public debate often treats the drone as the symbol of modern warfare. It can observe, track, deliver effects. Yet this impression is deceptive. Drones provide valuable imagery, but only raw information – and only point effects.
Without integration into artillery, air defence, command posts and ground-based systems, the information remains a single, isolated event – useful but not operationally decisive.
Only the interplay of multiple forces creates effects. This is where MDOcore unfolds its full value. The system links drone reconnaissance to radar target detection, to effector engagement, and to the higher-level decision logic of command.
Drones are an important puzzle piece – but only through network-enabled integration can their full potential be realised.
Information dominance as the foundation of military superiority
In professional circles, the triad shaping modern operations is well established: information dominance, decision dominance and effects dominance. Each level builds on the one before it.
Without robust data, no rapid decisions. Without rapid decisions, no coordinated effects. Ultimately, this leads to escalation dominance – the core requirement for credible deterrence.
MDOcore addresses this entire chain. It merges data, reduces complexity, creates clarity and enables a tempo that classical systems can scarcely match.
Whoever understands the battlespace first decides faster – imposing their operational rhythm on the adversary. In an era of increasingly hybrid, accelerated and unpredictable conflicts, this advantage becomes a strategic resource in its own right.
“Anyone who understands MDOcore quickly realises that this is not about software. It is about how Europe prevents war in future – through superiority in data, speed and sovereignty. And not as a distant vision, but as a capability ready for deployment today.”
Conclusion: The beginning of a new operational reality
MDOcore is not software in the classical sense. It is a new form of battlespace logic – a system that understands what data means rather than merely displaying it. It creates clarity where parallel information worlds previously existed and connects systems across all domains and branches that were once laboriously integrated only with great effort.
MDOcore establishes a continuously connected information space in which data is not merely displayed, but understood and prioritised. The suite provides the foundation for information, decision and effects dominance – enabling armed forces to conduct operations aligned with the speed and complexity of modern threats.
What emerges is more than an operational picture: it is a networked operational fabric that empowers armed forces to decide faster, achieve precision effects and retain the initiative in an extremely dynamic environment.
In a world of growing threats, this capability will determine who is prepared – and who merely reacts.