The iFurther (High Frequency Over The Horizon Sensor Cognitive Network) project is underway. It's created to define a network of high-frequency cognitive radars dedicated to monitoring airspace and sea. The aim is to strengthen the protection of the European territory. Among the public and private partners of 10 countries there is also the Italian Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (Ingv).

A three-year consortium between 18 public and private bodies of the European Union has been set up for the occasion. The contribution of the Ingv Physics of the Upper Atmosphere and Radiopropagation group, led by Claudio Cesaroni, will consist in providing real-time data and models coming from the Institute's observational infrastructures and necessary to define the characteristics of signal propagation through the Earth's ionosphere.

These are the objectives of the project: to detect and track long-range air and sea targets using the reflection of signals from the ionosphere and the earth's surface; extend the existing air and sea radar coverage of the European Union by closing existing gaps; improve trans-horizon detection and track target tracking performance; apply new strategies to optimize monitoring.