The Spanish Ministry of Defense has awarded Indra, one of the leading global technological engineering companies for the aerospace, defense, and mobility sectors, the project to modernize and improve its command, surveillance, identification, and control (ARS) centers, essential for combat potential threats to the country’s airspace.
Indra will equip the ARS centers of Torrejón de Ardoz in Madrid (GRUCEMAC), Zaragoza (GRUNOMAC), and Gando in Gran Canaria (GRUALERCON) and the Command and Control School (EMACOT) with its latest generation AirDef air command and control system, which will contribute to the mission of surveillance and permanent control of the nationally-sovereign airspace led by the Spanish Air and Space Force.
With this project, the Ministry of Defense will once again trust Indra’s self-developed solutions, as it did at the end of the 1990s with the IARS system, currently in service at the centers mentioned above.
Together with the Lanza 3D radars of the Air Monitoring Squadrons (EVAs), this technology forms the backbone of Spain’s airspace surveillance and control.
Thanks to the modernization of the ARS centers with the new AirDef system, which incorporates anti-missile defense for the first time, and the new and more advanced Lanza 3D radars that Indra will continue to deploy, Spain’s condition as a country will be reinforced with one of the most comprehensive and integrated air defense and missile defense system in the world and a world leader in this field.
AirDef, which is now in use in a number of nations, was developed to fulfill the stringent air command and control requirements of NATO’s Integrated Air and Missile Defense System (NATINAMDS).
Essential and permanent in times of peace, crises, and conflicts to safeguard and protect the territory, populations, and forces of the Alliance against any threat or attack by air or ballistic missiles.
The Spanish Ministry of Defense has decided that other countries can use Indra’s technology because it meets these requirements and has established itself as one of the most advanced command and control systems in use in NATO countries.
Indra’s system is equipped with the latest software and hardware technologies and architectures, which improve sensor fusion, the generation of recognized aerial images (RAP), and the management of air and anti-missile battles in real-time, providing operators with multiple aids intelligent for decision-making through advanced, geo positioned and configurable graphical interfaces.
Thanks to the natural integration of the most cutting-edge NATO tactical data links (Link 16, JREAP, Link 22, and VMF) amongst the operational entities, their interoperability with those in service over the past few decades is ensured. (Link 1, Link 11B, and Link 11A), which are also integrated into the Indra solution.
The implementation of the AirDef system in the Air Operations Center (AOC) of the Torrejón de Ardoz Aerospace Operational Command (MOA) will also provide BMD (Ballistic Missile Defense) capabilities to manage anti-missile defense, thanks to its integration into Lanza 3D LRR sensors and Indra’s LTR-25 (also endowed with these capabilities) and to tactical data links with anti-missile weapons systems.
Additionally, the AirDef system will supply the Air Operations Center with a NATO-interoperable tool to produce the Air Tasking Orders and Airspace Control Orders required for air operations planning.
A state-of-the-art digital voice communications system
In addition to installing state-of-the-art GAREX-300M ground/air radios at ARS hubs, the project calls for setting up a voice-over-IP communication system to allow for the remote operation of these radios.
This system provides security clearance for the independent handling of classified and unclassified (red/black) information between operators and between aircraft and hubs, as well as ensuring the highest possible level of resilience and availability.
This new system is currently being deployed at NATO‘s Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC) in Uedem, Germany, in order to facilitate the coordination of the Alliance’s aerial police missions throughout the European airspace north of the Alps, demonstrating its capacity to facilitate highly complex air operations.
The project includes establishing a software maintenance center that is important to the concept of autonomous logistic support for the air command and control system units.
This constitutes a replica of the software and hardware architectures and will facilitate the maintenance of security authorizations, configuration control, the generation of new software packages, the execution of the different tests, and the updating of the IETP manuals ( Interactive Electronic Technical Publications).
At the forefront of European Defense
This project will not only strengthen Spanish air defenses and put them at the forefront of this field, it will also solidify Indra’s standing as one of the most cutting-edge defense technology engineering companies in Europe and the world, as well as a frontrunner in the sector’s ongoing digital transformation.
Its state-of-the-art solutions for Land, Sea, Air, Space, and Cyberspace range from operations with comprehensive defense systems and onboard the most advanced platforms to training with state-of-the-art simulation systems.
As an expert in radar, electronic defense, command and control, and communications technologies, Indra incorporates artificial intelligence, virtual reality, big data, and combat clouds into its latest generation critical systems.
Indra is the national industrial coordinator in Spain for FCAS, the largest and most advanced defense program in Europe, and the Spanish business that manages the most defense-related projects in Europe. In addition, it participates in other European and international projects, including the Eurofighter and the A400M.