DAS Photonics · EM&E Group
Leading Photonics in Defense, Aeronautics & Space
Photonic systems for electronic warfare, signal intelligence, counter-drone protection and satellite payloads — designed, manufactured and integrated by DAS.
Who we are
Two decades turning photonics into mission-critical technology
DAS Photonics is a Spanish high-technology company, part of EM&E Group, specialized in the design, development, manufacturing and integration of advanced photonic solutions for Defence, Avionics, Space and Strategic Communications.
Founded in 2005 as a spin-off of the Nanophotonics Technology Center at the Universitat Politècnica de València, DAS Photonics has spent two decades turning advanced photonic research into mission-critical technology trusted by leading defence contractors, aerospace organisations and government agencies worldwide.
Leveraging proprietary photonic technologies, DAS Photonics delivers high-performance systems for Electronic Warfare, Signal Intelligence, RF-over-Fibre communications, satellite payloads and mission-critical sensing applications offering significant advantages over conventional electronics in bandwidth, electromagnetic immunity, size, weight and power consumption (SWaP).
2005
Founded as a spin-off of the Universitat Politècnica de València
20years
Pioneering photonics R&D
2018
In orbit: first broadband photonic converter on a commercial satellite
40GHz
Instantaneous bandwidth in our photonic SIGINT payloads
What we deliver
Photonic systems in real operations
DAS Photonics designs, manufactures, qualifies and integrates photonic systems that detect, protect and connect — on land, at sea, in the air and in orbit.
01 · Electronic warfare & SIGINT
Detect, locate and counter every threat.
Radar and communications receivers, signal intelligence and jamming systems for land, naval and airborne platforms — with form factors for each mission.
- R-ESM / ELINT: 0.5–40 GHz with a true 100% probability of interception
- C-ESM / COMINT: 20–6,000 MHz monitored instantaneously
- Photonic RF memory for radar deception (R-ECM)
- Compact photonic SIGINT payload for Class II drones
02 · Counter-drone protection
Shielding critical infrastructure from drones.
Integrated systems that monitor the spectrum, locate drones and their operators, and jam hostile links — protecting critical infrastructure and deployed forces.
- Broadband spectral monitoring of communications and RF signals
- C-ESM localisation and 12-channel R-ESM
- C-ECM jamming with counter-UAV capability
- Part of EM&E Group’s layered C-UAS portfolio
03 · Space
Photonics flying in orbit.
Qualified photonic payload equipment with flight heritage. Since 2018 a DAS broadband photonic multi-frequency converter operates on board HISPASAT 30W-6 — a world first on a commercial satellite.
- Photonic multi-frequency converters, Ku to Q/V band
- Active optical cables: 10 Gb/s digital and 50 GHz RF
- Rad-hard optical amplifiers and broadband photoreceivers
- Quantum photon source qualified for ESA’s QKDSat
04 · Photonic components
From chip to subsystem.
We design and manufacture the photonic building blocks inside our systems, from broadband modulators to optical links and photonic integrated circuits.
- Electro-optical modulators beyond 50 GHz (thin-film lithium niobate)
- RF-over-fibre links for antennas and platforms
- Photonic integrated circuits (PIC)
- Next-generation nanophotonic chips with NANO3
Proprietary photonics technology, applied to real missions
Projects
Two decades of photonics R&D, transferred into real defence, avionics and space programmes.
06 projects
Space
DAS is developing key enabling photonics technologies to upgrade satellite payload performance; reduced size, weight and power (SWaP), near-unlimited bandwidth, phase stability and immunity to electromagnetic interference.
Space
04 projects
Defense & Avionics
DAS Photonics provides next-generation radar and communications threat awareness, countermeasuring and signal intelligence gathering solutions, as well as photonics-based sensing for aeronautics applications.
Defense & Avionics
06 projects
Technology
DAS Photonics products are powered by proprietary photonics technology, detecting, transporting, routing and analyzing complex broadband RF signals in real time.
Technology
Proprietary technology
Beyond conventional electronics
DAS Photonics products are powered by proprietary photonics technology, detecting, transporting, routing and analyzing complex broadband RF signals in real time.
01 · RF-over-Fibre
RF signals, carried by light.
Broadband radiofrequency signals are converted into the optical domain, where they can be transported, routed and processed with a precision conventional electronics cannot match.
Real time broadband RF detection and analysis
02 · Bandwidth
Near-unlimited bandwidth.
Photonics opens the whole spectrum at once — our compact ESM/ELINT payload for Class II RPAS delivers 40 GHz of instantaneous bandwidth.
40 GHz instantaneous bandwidth
03 · Immunity
Immune to electromagnetic interference.
Light brings phase stability and immunity to electromagnetic interference — essential for electronic warfare, signal intelligence and satellite payloads.
< 1.5° rms direction-finding accuracy
04 · SWaP
Less size, weight and power.
Photonic integration reduces size, weight and power consumption, from drone payloads under 50 kg to Terabit-per-second satellite payload demonstrators.
< 50 kg Class II RPAS payload
Since 2024
Part of EM&E Group
Since 2024, DAS Photonics is part of EM&E Group, an industrial group building a European reference in electronic warfare and defence electronics.
This backing gives DAS Photonics the technology of a specialist, with the industrial scale, financial strength and commercial reach of a group built to compete at the highest level — the difference between being a promising supplier and being a long-term programme partner.
Founded in 1989 and headquartered in Alcalá de Henares (Madrid), EM&E Group designs and manufactures defence and security systems — remote weapon stations, electro-optical systems, electronics, robotics and counter-UAS — with its own engineering and production across Spain and systems in service with armed and security forces in more than 25 countries.
Within the group, DAS Photonics contributes the photonic technology for electronic warfare, signal intelligence and secure communications, supported by the group’s engineering, manufacturing and qualification capabilities.
1989
EM&E Group founded
+2000
Professionals (2026)
+25
Countries with EM&E systems in service
2024
DAS Photonics joins the group
News
DAS Photonics in the news
Quantum laser pulse generator ready to power ESA’s QKDSat
The quantum light source designed by DAS Photonics — a core technology for encrypting communications from space — has been qualified for ESA’s QKDSat mission.
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Javier Martí (DAS Photonics): “Talent is the most necessary technology tool today”
An interview on photonics for defence and space — and why talent makes the difference.
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DAS Photonics advances Europe’s semiconductor sovereignty with NANO3
A new generation of chips combining nanoelectronics and nanophotonics, funded by Spain’s PERTE CHIP programme.
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EM&E invests €17M in a chip plant for defence and space in Valencia
Plus €8 million for the growth of DAS Photonics, specialised in electronic warfare and secure communications.
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DISRUPT: chip-integrated tomographic microscopy
Visit the website of the Horizon Europe project where DAS applies its photonic integration technology to biomedical imaging.
Read more (opens in a new tab)Ready to work with us?
Contact usContact
Let’s talk photonics.
-
Ciudad Politécnica de la Innovación
Camino de Vera s/n, Edificio 8F
46022 Valencia · Spain
Open in maps - +34 963 556 150
- contact@dasphotonics.com