Defense electronics specialist Elettronica Group has ventured into the fight against Covid with the development of E4Shield, which transfers its electromagnetic expertise into biodefense technology. Elettronica partnered with international real estate and urban regeneration group Lendlease to further the technology for use inside closed environments such as schools, elevators, and transportation spaces, including aircraft.
E4Shield protects interior spaces by using electromagnetic waves to inactivate viruses within three minutes. Laboratory tests have shown the virus inside aerosols would be inactivated by 90 percent, the company said.
"E4Shield is a unique system” that applies military skills to civil applications, said Elettronica president and CEO Enzo Benigni, adding that technology could contribute to management of the post-pandemic period. “We hope that this innovative system will be the first step towards a return to a new normality.”
In addition to Lendlease, Elettronica has teamed with the Scientific Department of the Celio Military Polyclinic, Sacco Hospital, and Virostatics Laboratories on E4Shield.
The Italian firm (Stand 1340), which is presenting the technology during the 2022 Farnborough International Airshow, also said it is deepening its involvement in the space electronic warfare arena and in integrated self-defense systems (ISDS). Elettronica is a partner on the ISDS for the Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft and NH Industries NH-90 medium-lift helicopter and is developing those systems for the pan-European Tempest combat aircraft.