In our initiation earlier this month, we highlighted Bittium’s exceptional know-how in military-grade radio technology, leveraging a 40-year long legacy in secure wireless communications. This builds on the back of their long cooperation with the Finnish Defense Forces. Bittium’s successful integration of their radio systems with multiple European militaries, contrasts sharply with the integration issues encountered by peers. For instance, this is the case of Rohde & Schwartz (R&S) and their cumbersome radio integration project with the Bundeswehr.

The Digitalisierung Landbasierte Operationen (D-LBO) is one of the most important modernisation projects of the Bundeswehr, estimated at € 20bn. The D-LBO’s core objective is to link vehicles, troops and command nodes, in an advanced, secure and unified communication network, that will facilitate interoperability with allies. A spokesperson from Pistorius’s office had told Der Spiegel that the switch to digital radios for the Bundeswehr represents “one of the most extensive and complex conversions”, akin to an “open-heart surgery”. Here, R&S’s role in the D-LBO is absolutely central.

The D-LBO is however, encountering major issues, as Tageschau reports in November 2025. So far, integration of the new radio systems have been largely unsuccessful. Military personnel had already stated, during tests in May 2025, that the digital radios were “unsuited for military use”. Recently, German MoD internal documents further revealed that the situation was “worsening”. These issues do not date from this year alone. Already in September 2023, Defense Minister Pistorius openly admitted delays in the project, deemed top-priority.

One of the core issues is the complexity of retrofitting current systems; according to budget officials, installation of a single digital radio in a Leopard tank takes two technicians and 400 hours. Considering that the Bundeswehr is composed of 16,000 vehicles of 200 different types, the task ahead is enormous, timely and expensive. In reality, officials have already indirectly acknowledged that the roll-out of digital radios has failed, as it is now planned to roll-out a solution combining digital and legacy radios. This makes the Bundeswehr not only vulnerable on the modern battlefield, but also makes interoperability with NATO allies difficult.

An internal document from the German MoD explains to Bundestag MPs, that a technical solution will be found in November 2025. Many top MPs are highly skeptical, notes Tageschau. Interestingly, external consults from Capgemini, PricewaterhouseCoopers and msg systems are planned to be subcontracted to help fix the abovementionned problems, with rates estimated at € 1,200 per consultant per day. We are highly skeptical of their real impact on the matter.

This underpins Bittium’s, exceptional know-how in the field of military-grade radios. While we do not expect Bittium to get involved in the D-LBO project at this time, we also don’t exclude any scenarios. Afterall, Indra Sistemas chose to partner with Bittium to pursue a contract from the Spanish MoD, a deal which involves a technology transfer. We would not be surprised to see Bittium win further cases with such procurement models, as it allows clients to retain production sovereignity. We maintain our BUY rating and PT of € 23.50.

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Bittium's expertise shines amid Bundeswehr radio woes

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