Indra Aims to Become European Powerhouse. Image – Indra
Indra Sistemas has begun an ambitious plan to become the national champion for Spain’s defense and aerospace and expand beyond its borders within the next decade. Under a new strategy, the company is looking to emulate other European defense champions such as BAE Systems in the UK, Thales in France and Leonardo in Italy. The company will also grow its international ambitions in the wake of increased defense spending by NATO members.
The company has implemented its “Leading the Future” initiative, which signifies a renewed focus on three core business segments: defense, aerospace, and advanced digital technologies. To facilitate this transformation, Indra will implement a more agile group structure comprised of four distinct divisions, Defense, Air Traffic, Space and Minsait.
Through these shifts, Indra aspires to become the central hub for Spain in all European land, air, and cyberspace defense programs. Additionally, they aim to be the leading company within Spain that integrates various defense systems.
The new Defense division will simplify its range of products, from 11 to six technological categories, including radar, electronic defense, electro-optics, command and control, communications and simulation. The unit is currently involved in the Future Combat Air System, the Eurofighter Typhoon and the A400M freighter and will look to future cross-border opportunities with allies.
Most notably, the company is the national coordinator of the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) and will lead the development of the Combat Cloud sensors that this large airborne system of systems will carry. It is working in parallel, within the Carmenta project, on the design of the future European self-protection system for fixed- and rotary-wing aerial platforms, a technology designed to deal with a wide range of threats through the use of artificial intelligence and cognitive behaviors. It is also involved in the European CROWN project that will equip European fighters and aircraft with capabilities that combine radar, communications systems, and electronic defense systems into electronic warfare suites.
As the space industry becomes increasingly important, Indra will be concentrating its efforts on its Space division. Here Indra is working to develop Spain’s New Space sector to lead large space projects and launch large satellite constellations. In 2021, Indra, together with Enaire, created Startical, a company that will put into orbit a constellation of 240 small satellites to provide services that will improve air traffic management and safety around the world. More recently, the company became a shareholder of Sateliot, which will launch 100 satellites to facilitate the development of an Internet of Things with 5G connectivity.
Air Traffic Management, which was formerly under Transport and Defense, is now a stand-alone division. This unit will consolidate ATM in Europe, seek growth in North America and Asia, and extend its offerings to the nascent unmanned air traffic management (UTM) sector.
Minsait meanwhile will integrate the Mobility business and strengthen its position in the European and Latin American information technology services market.
With these efforts underway, Indra is seeking revenues amounting to over EUR6 billion by 2026, with growth of over EUR10 billion by 2030. Indra sees this growth potential driven by two key trends. increased European Defense Spending and the importance of digitalization. The war in Ukraine is driving European countries to invest long-term in military modernization, which creates a prime opportunity for Indra to offer its expertise in this area. Meanwhile, the rise of artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and the need for robust cybersecurity will provide opportunities on both the military and commercial fronts.
A military history enthusiast, Richard began at Forecast International as editor of the World Weapons Weekly newsletter. As the Internet grew in importance as a research tool, he helped design the company's Forecast Intelligence Center and currently coordinates the EMarket Alert newsletters for clients. Richard also manages social media efforts, including two new blogs: Defense & Security Monitor, covering defense systems and international issues, and Flight Plan, which focuses on commercial aviation and space systems. For over 30 years, Richard has authored the Defense & Aerospace Companies, Volume I (North America) and Volume II (International) services. The two books provide detailed data on major aerospace and defense contractors. He also edits the International Contractors service, a database that tracks all the contractors involved in the programs covered in the FI library. More recently he was appointed Manager, Information Services Group (ISG), a new unit that encompasses developing outbound content for both Forecast International and Military Periscope.
