Throughout EURMARS, the consortium delivered a coordinated programme resulting in a next-generation, multi-authority surveillance platform for European border security. The project began with a broad requirements-engineering phase involving authorities and technical partners, producing full technical, user, functional, non-functional and ethical requirements, along with the assessment methodology, KPIs and acceptance criteria. Building on these, the team designed and refined a modular architecture supporting heterogeneous sensors, advanced analytics, CISE/VDES interoperability, AI components and layered decision-support.
Major work focused on enhancing sensing capabilities. EURMARS developed and upgraded ground, low-altitude, high-altitude, UAV and satellite platforms, including fog-resilient SWIR systems, SMART SENSE mast solutions, multi-camera UAV payloads, AI-based detection/tracking networks, high-altitude 3D-LiDAR simulations and GEO-satellite vessel-tracking concepts. Real-time pipelines for data acquisition, processing, behaviour analysis and anomaly detection were implemented using embedded GPU devices and state-of-the-art deep learning. A robust common data hub and digital interfaces enabled seamless links with CISE, VDES, Copernicus and maritime databases, supported by multimodal fusion using fuzzy logic, neural inference and contextual meta-fusion.
The Command-and-Control and decision-support environment integrated all sensing streams into a unified, web-based, GIS-driven platform with real-time awareness sharing, secure communication, alarms and operator workflows. CIRAM was operationalised into an automated risk engine that prioritises threats and supports decision-making. System integration involved multi-phase validation, cyber-physical security assessments, stress testing and the creation of a comprehensive security framework.
Field activities formed the culmination of the work. Two prototype iterations were deployed in the Bulgarian living lab, generating a large multimodal dataset for training and benchmarking. Full demonstrations followed in Cyprus, the UK and the Bulgaria–Romania cross-border area. The platform achieved strong detection accuracy, solid performance in adverse maritime environments, seamless multi-sensor integration and effective cross-border cooperation, meeting or surpassing most KPIs.
Complementary efforts ensured ethical oversight, AI-Act alignment and continuous monitoring by ethics mentors. Dissemination and exploitation activities delivered communication materials, policy inputs and industrial engagement, while stakeholder involvement increased visibility and operational relevance. Overall, EURMARS delivered a mature, interoperable, AI-enabled surveillance ecosystem that strengthens situational awareness, operational coordination and border-security capabilities across sea, land and air domains.
