Indra signs an agreement with Spanish startup IDBOTIC, which joins Europe's largest defence programme, the NGWS/FCAS
Indra has closed a deal to bring Spanish startup IDBOTIC into the NGWS/FCAS programme, Europe's largest and most ambitious defence programme, which is tackling the development of the air combat system of the future, key for the continent to maintain its air superiority throughout the 21st century.
This startup, which was created in 2019, specialises in encryption and hardware authentication of Internet of Things (IoT) communications in the defence, industry and telecommunications sectors. With the signing of this agreement, it joins forces with Indra for the development of disruptive technologies that provide a non-clonable identity to the different sensors and systems that will make up the Next Generation Weapons System/Future Combat Air Warfare System (NGWS/FCAS).
This system, critical to ensuring the security of our continent in the future, will be based on a sixth-generation fighter that will fly escorted by several remotely piloted aircraft or carriers all operating within a combat cloud. A cloud that introduces a completely revolutionary element in aerial combat by facilitating real-time data exchange between different platforms - air, naval, ground - by dynamically creating a sophisticated network of sensors and effectors distributed throughout the theatre of operations, providing unprecedented situational awareness and the ability to coordinate the actions of all these platforms as if they were a single entity.
The development of such a "system of systems", with the ability to intervene simultaneously in multiple defence domains, represents a major technological challenge, requiring the development of a completely new defence concept in which communications security and resilience must be at the heart of the architecture.
Among the multiple technologies to be developed for this purpose, Indra and IDBOTIC will address three parallel projects that provide security at different levels: the first of them focused on guaranteeing hardware security (Non-Clonable Physical Function); the second on the rapid distribution of private keys (Distributed Registration Technology); and the third on the integration of encryption and decryption processes, which will already be resistant to post-quantum attacks (Fully Homomorphic Encryption) that will come with the irruption of this new form of computing.
Indra's FCAS Operations Director, Miguel García Moreno, assures that "with this agreement we are taking a step forward in our commitment to incorporate into the NGWS/FCAS programme any company, SME, startup, research centre or university that is working on cutting-edge technologies. We need all of them to be part of this great technological programme that will extend beyond 2040. We are confident that IDBOTIC's level of expertise and exceptional knowledge in the field of cryptography and secure communications will help us to achieve better results faster, while also contributing to strengthening European technological sovereignty".
IDBOTIC's President, César Goyache, said: "Our joining the NGWS/FCAS programme allows us to advance in the development of a dual technology that will find a huge range of applications. We are proud to be collaborating with a great Spanish technology company such as Indra, which has opened the doors and facilitated our entry into what is undoubtedly one of the most exciting technology programmes currently underway in Europe".
IDBOTIC is a company that had already started working with Indra on sustainability 4.0 projects, helping to secure, for example, the network used by Indra's virtual assistant; a system that, through mixed reality glasses, allows personnel in charge of maintaining equipment and platforms to connect remotely with other experts for support. IDBOTIC will now also work in the NGWS/FCAS programme, an initiative that in the words of the FCAS Operations director, Miguel García Moreno, "will turn Spain into one of the most innovative countries in the world and will serve as a lever to structure the entire defence technology industry throughout the country".
About Indra
Indra (www.indracompany.com) is a leading global defence, aerospace and technology company, as well as a leader in digital transformation and information technologies in Spain and Latin America through its subsidiary Minsait. Its business model is based on a comprehensive offering of high-value proprietary products with a high innovation component, making it the technological partner for the digitisation and key operations of its customers around the world. Sustainability is part of its strategy and culture, in order to respond to present and future social and environmental challenges. At year-end 2023, Indra had revenues of 4,343 million euros, more than 57,000 employees, local presence in 46 countries and commercial operations in more than 140 countries.