Indra organises the 1st Forum on Operational Analysis applied to defence in Spain
Indra organised the first Industrial Forum on Operational Analysis in Spain, assuming the role of a driving force and promoting dialogue and collaboration between the different actors involved in the development of this discipline, which needs to combine the military experience of the Armed Forces' combatants, the industry's technology and the scientific knowledge of Spanish universities.
The company is thus working to provide the country with this capability in terms of national sovereignty, which allows the Ministry of Defence to make decisions based on scientific evidence, mathematical analysis and simulation tests to determine the capabilities to be developed to reinforce the country's protection and ensure that the programmes implemented will meet the established requirements.
With this objective, Indra is already promoting a Centre of Excellence for Research, Concept Development, Experimentation and Operational Analysis applied to Defence, in which the Armed Forces, industry and academia are invited to participate and collaborate.
Operational analysis makes it possible to reproduce air, naval, land and even multi-domain combat situations in a synthetic way, but also to integrate real current systems, and to carry out hundreds of exercises to test different configurations of the systems, in different environmental conditions, using different operational strategies. In this way, the innovation cycle can be accelerated, the design of the systems to be developed can be optimised and the most efficient technologies can be chosen.
The forum organised by Indra was attended by Gonzalo Sanz Alisedo, second admiral of the Navy's General Staff (SAJEMA), second chief of the Air and Space General Staff (SEJEMA), lieutenant general Julio Nieto Sampayo, the deputy to the SEJEMA, Major General José Manuel Cuesta Casquero, as well as senior commanders of the Joint Defence Staff (EMAD), the Army, the Air and Space Army and the Navy, the Directorate General of Material and Armaments (DGAM) and the Armed Forces School (ESFAS). Other participants included companies such as Airbus DS SAU, GMV, Navantia and Indra itself, as well as the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), the Polytechnic University of Cartagena (UPCT) and the Defence University Centre of the General Air Academy.
The Director General of Defence and Security, Borja Ochoa, stated that "the current context of instability and rapid technological development makes this the most appropriate time to introduce the use of mathematical and statistical models to develop the capabilities that the Armed Forces need to fulfil their mission more efficiently" and pointed out that "the most advanced countries around us are working in this field to ensure their sovereignty".
For his part, the director of the FCAS Programme, Sebastián Laiseca, stressed that "this forum is a first step towards opening up dialogue and seeking formulas for collaboration between academia, the Armed Forces and industry that will enable us to equip ourselves with this new capability, which will be key to tackling increasingly ambitious and advanced technological programmes".
During the event, Indra's military advisor for FCAS management and retired Air Force and Space Brigadier General Antonio Machés Michavila moderated the round table in which the benefits of this type of analysis for the Armed Forces were analysed, while FCAS Global Operations director Miguel García led the debate on how to articulate the collaboration between the different entities and organisations involved in the development of operational analysis.
The prior analysis of systems and operations using these techniques makes it possible to establish clear specifications for the development of prototypes that cover the needs defined by the Armed Forces, thereby reducing development times and avoiding cost overruns arising from changes in requirements throughout the project. Similarly, this type of analysis makes it possible to identify the capabilities needed by an army and the best options to cover them.
During the Operational Analysis Industry Forum, the development of the capability to conduct complex multi-domain operations with partners was highlighted as one of the major challenges to be addressed in the coming years. This requires the development and integration of a large number of cutting-edge information and communications technologies and their operational analysis will be key to have the first prototypes and systems to be evaluated as soon as possible. Indra will continue to promote activities such as this forum, aimed at fostering collaboration and achieving national sovereignty in this area.