Indra Group leads the GIGaNTE project to foster key technologies that will make spanish defence and communications systems the world's leaders
The project will make Spain one of the few countries in the world with full capacity to design, manufacture and integrate equipment based on gallium nitride (GaN), a material that makes it possible to create much more powerful and efficient devices for defence and communications systems
Led by Indra, GIGaNTE brings together leading technology companies and universities to forge ahead with new electronic designs, manufacture high-frequency circuits and develop more compact and efficient ways of integrating these components into advanced antennas and modules
The project is part of the Science and Innovation Missions program of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and University, and strengthens Indra's role as a driver of strategic capabilities for national and European technological sovereignty
Indra Group leads the RDI project GIGaNTE (Gallium Nitride (GaN) and Advanced Packaging Technologies Research Initiative), a strategic initiative aimed at providing Spain with the necessary capabilities to autonomously develop technologies based on gallium nitride (GaN), an essential material in advanced defence applications, especially in high-reliability radar and communications systems.
The project involves a proprietary GaN manufacturing process that will enable progress in new high-performance electronic devices and circuits, capable of working in very demanding frequency ranges. This work includes developing specialized integrated circuits (MMICs) and advanced integration and packaging techniques that facilitate their incorporation into more compact, reliable and efficient modules and antennas.
The initiative, launched last January, has a budget of more than €9 million and is expected to last for four years. For the first time in the country, it will enable the configuration of an integral value chain from the design of advanced devices to their manufacture, integration and final validation. The project is part of the Science and Innovation Missions Program (PEICTI 2024-2027) of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and University, managed through the Center for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI) and contributes to strengthening Spanish technological sovereignty in an area of high strategic criticality with the aim of integrating into the future European value chain of compound semiconductors.
The consortium, led by Indra Group, includes leading companies such as Televes Corporación, SPARC Foundry and RBZ Robot Design, which will provide complementary capabilities in advanced electronics, integrated circuit design and, in the case of SPARC Foundry, its industrial open manufacturing platform in III-V and GaN technologies, key to providing the project with a scalable production capacity. Scientific teams from the Polytechnic University of Madrid, the University of Vigo, the University of Salamanca and the Galician Telecommunications Technology Center (GRADIANT) will also collaborate, contributing with specialized research on GaN architectures, device characterization, development of compact models and new approaches to circuit integration.
"Gallium nitride is set to transform the next generation of defense and communications systems, and leading a project like GIGaNTE is a clear demonstration of Indra Group's commitment to the development of critical technology capabilities from Spain. Undertaking the coordination of this strategic initiative allows us to foster a first-class industrial and scientific ecosystem and to advance towards much more powerful, efficient and reliable radar, electronic warfare and communications systems. Having the capacity to develop and produce it in Spain is key to strengthening the technological sovereignty and competitiveness of our industry at a time when Europe needs to have its own solutions that reinforce strategic autonomy," said Joaquín Ponz, head of Portfolio and Innovation at Indra Group.
Boosting the chip ecosystem
GIGaNTE is part of the Indra Group's commitment to strengthen national capabilities in critical technologies, a strategy it also drives through SPARC Foundry, a company in which it is a majority shareholder with a 37% stake. In June 2025, Indra announced it was taking a stake in SPARC to lead in Spain the design and production of chips based on gallium nitride and other III-V technologies, in one of the three most ambitious initiatives in Europe in photonic and radiofrequency semiconductors.
In January of this year, the company took a new step with the start of construction in Vigo of the first Spanish GaN chip factory, a trailblazing facility that will strengthen technological sovereignty and will serve as the basis for future advanced systems in the fields of defense and aerospace, consolidating Indra's role as a driving force for national industry in a strategic area for Spain and Europe. This industrial infrastructure forms the basis of the project's future manufacturing capabilities and is integrated into the development of the SPARC Foundry technology platform.