Indra Group acquires Wake Engineering’s unmanned aerial systems technology to enhance its vertical take-off capabilities

Indra Group has reached an agreement with the CPS Group to acquire Wake Engineering’s unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) technology, with the aims of further strengthening its standing in the market and accelerating the development of capabilities so as to respond to the Special Modernization Programs and the huge potential for international growth in the field.

The company will thereby accelerate its response to the Special Modernization Program (PEM), the pre-financing of which has been approved for Indra, which envisages the supply of 49 medium-range class-I UAS, some of them with vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) technology.

Wake is a CPS Group company whose main activity is the design, development and production of UAS, and it already boasts flight-proven prototypes equipped with VTOL technology. Its design could be integrated into the avionics and mission systems of Indra Group’s TARSIS family of unmanned aerial systems. In this respect, all of the systems share a common technological base so as to offer high-capability means of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and provide support for the Armed Forces.

With the purchase of Wake’s UAS technology, Indra Group will strengthen its Indra Weapons & Ammunitions division, which focuses on the development of unmanned vehicles and anti-drone, precision guidance, and directed energy systems. The operation will not only contribute to securing national technological sovereignty in the field of drones, it will also position Spanish industry with a view to short-term international opportunities with a preference for VTOL solutions in both the naval and the civilian spheres, with significant potential for growth in the future.

The company is continuing to position itself to compete for contracts under the €800 billion ReArm Europe plan, which identifies UAS as a strategic solution. Indra Group has already acquired the Aertec Defence & Aerial Systems company this year, incorporating its TARSIS family of tactical systems into Indra’s product range.