Indra, one of the main partners of Ocean2020, the first major project financed with the new european defense fund

The European consortium Ocean2020, in which Indra is one of the main partners, has landed a contract worth €36 million for the largest defense R&D initiative to date backed by the European Union's new European Defense Fund.

Conceived for research in technologies that reinforce situational awareness in extensive naval environments, the project is part of the EU's Preparatory Action on Defense Research (PADR), which will lay the foundation for a much more ambitious future R&D program running from 2021 to 2027.

The Ocean2020 consortium is led by Leonardo with the participation of 42 partners from 15 Member States, including large companies, SMEs, universities, research centers and defense ministries in their roles as end users. The European Defense Agency selected the project in a competitive tender involving several other consortia. This initiative is the first example of joint European collaboration for research in this sector.

Indra is among the three most prominently influential companies in the project. It also maintains a first-level responsibility to lead the work package that will design the entire system's architecture.

Ocean2020 will address the integration of an extensive variety of unmanned platforms (fixed wing, rotary wing, surface and underwater vessels) with naval units that will exchange data with command and control centers via satellite. This environment of maximum complexity will certainly be a test for the naval version of Indra's unmanned Pelicano helicopter.

Following extensive simulation work, the consortium will conduct two live demonstrations of maritime surveillance and interdiction operations. The first one will be undertaken in 2019, coordinated by the Italian Navy in the Mediterranean Sea, where Indra's unmanned Pelicano aircraft will be tested to demonstrate its advanced surveillance capabilities and flexibility to interoperate with the most advanced platform systems of different countries. The second test will be coordinated by the Swedish Navy in 2020 in the Baltic Sea to check the improvements made after the first battery of exercises.

All the data gleaned by the platforms involved in the demonstrations will be processed and sent to the Naval Operation Centers of the different participating Navies and also to a prototype European Maritime Operations Center, which will be located in Brussels to reinforce the interoperability of future operations. Indra will lead in the development of this demonstrator with a view to laying the foundations for a future European strategic command and control capability able to plan and conduct EU military operations, in any part of the world, according to the Global Strategy for the EU’s Forerign and Security Policy..

The project has the backing and collaboration of Spain's Directorate General of Armament and Equipment and the Spanish Navy. The OCEAN2020 consortium also comprises the company GMV and the SME Seadrone, both Spanish entities, thus increasing the weight of Spanish participation.

The OCEAN2020 consortium comprises:

• Large companies: LEONARDO, Indra, SAAB, CTM, SAFRAN, IDE, QINETIQ, SKYSOFT, MBDA, IDS, GMV, TERMA, ECA, FINCANTIERI, E-GEOS and HENSOLDT.
• Small and medium-sized enterprises: PTI, CYBERNETICA, BARRACUDA, SEADRONE, AUTONAUT, BLUE BEAR, PROLEXIA, SCHÖNHOFER, ANTYCIP, INFINITE VISION, INSIS, ALTUS, LUCIAD and BLACKSHAPE
• Universities and research centers: CMRE, Frauhofer-IOSB, TNO, VTT, CNIT, University of Athens, IAI.
• End users: Italian Navy, Lithuanian Navy, Greek Defense Ministry, Portuguese Navy and Spanish Defense Ministry.

The consortium has the additional support of the ministries of defense of Sweden, France, the United Kingdom, Estonia and the Netherlands.

About Indra

Indra is a leading global consulting and technology company, and the technology partner for the core business operations of its clients' businesses throughout the world. It is one of the world's largest providers of proprietary solutions in specific segments of the Transport and Defense markets and a bellwether in Information Technology in Spain and Latin America. The company provides a comprehensive range of high added-value proprietary solutions and cutting-edge services in technology, and a singular culture of reliability, flexibility and adaptability to the needs of its customers. Indra is a world leader in developing end-to-end technology solutions in fields such as Defense and Security, Transport and Traffic, Energy and Industry, Telecommunications and Media, Financial Services, Electoral Processes, and Public Administrations and Healthcare. Its Minsait unit addresses the challenges posed by digital transformation. In 2016 Indra posted a revenue of €2.709 billion, employed 34,000 professionals, and had a local presence in 46 countries with sales operations in over 140 countries. Following its acquisition of Tecnocom, Indra's combined revenue amounted to more than €3.2 billion in 2016 with a team of nearly 40,000 professionals.