The company will coordinate the work of a consortium made up of Thales, Office National D'Etudes et de Recherches Aerospatiales (ONERA), Hensoldt, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, SAAB, Totalforsvarets Forskningsinstitut (FOI), Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), Leonardo, Elettronica, Baltijos Pazangiu Technologiju Institutas (BPTI).
The project has been selected to be part of the European Commission's Preparatory Action on Defence Research, which is managed by the European Defence Agency.
This group of companies and research centers from seven countries will design the first element capable of integrating radar, electronic warfare equipment, and communications into a single compact and lightweight unit that could be installed in the nose of an aircraft—concealed within the fuselage—or in an underwing pod, on various types of platforms, including UAVs. It will be a system based on active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar antennas and sophisticated algorithms that will allow for optimized multifunction operation across different capabilities.
This is a capability that no country currently possesses and that will provide a significant advantage to whoever acquires it first. This integration will allow the aircraft's radar to intelligently select the least congested area of the spectrum for effective operation, extending its range even in environments where the adversary attempts to interfere with its functioning.
The coordination of the radar with the systems that monitor the radio spectrum and generate countermeasures (ES/EA) will significantly improve the performance of these systems and the aircraft's weapons systems in general. As for communications, they will gain in range and bandwidth, allowing for faster data exchange with other platforms.
The ultimate goal is to equip future aircraft with a compact, smaller, lighter, and less expensive, yet more powerful solution that provides a decisive advantage. This solution will determine their ability to detect the enemy, select and lock onto targets, and exchange data with other platforms on land, sea, or air to gain the upper hand in combat or defend against an attack.
Electronic defense has become central to military strategy in recent years because some countries are using control of the radio spectrum to counter the superiority of European and allied aircraft.
The CROWN project could subsequently address the adaptation of this system for use by ground units and all types of land vehicles and ships.
The Spanish government has nominated Indra as the national industrial coordinator for the European defense program FCAS (Future Combat Air System), the largest joint European defense program to date and the most ambitious in terms of technological development. Indra will carry out this role alongside the industrial leaders appointed by France and Germany, Dassault and Airbus, respectively.
The company is also involved in the proposals of 9 consortia of the EDIDP (European Defence Industrial Development Programme) that are being evaluated and acts as coordinator in 3 of the 5 led by Spain, among others the PESCO program for Strategic Command and Control, probably the most important of all of them, in which Spain, Italy, Germany, France, Luxembourg and Portugal participate.
Furthermore, it has participated for decades in international programs such as the Eurofighter, A400M, NH90, Meteor or ESSOR, as well as non-European and NATO-related programs such as ESSM, FLEPS, ACCS and many others.
