DonateEuropean Defense Tech Hubs – Indra is setting the pace and creating a new centre of gravity for European defense cooperation
UPDATE: Indra would welcome Belgium as a new partner in the joint European Future Combat Air System (FCAS) project
The Indra Technology Hub, currently rising in Torrejón de Ardoz near Madrid, signifies a transformative moment for European defense and technological innovation. With a record €385 million investment from the European Investment Bank, the hub will become one of the leading physical research, development, and manufacturing sites for advanced defense technologies on the continent, scheduled to open in 2026. Beyond being Indra’s flagship project, the hub’s scale and ambition position it at the heart of Europe’s strategic push for defense sovereignty and technological leadership. But it also remains national while Europe should think united and act consistently.
In itself, the Indra Technology Hub is indeed following a holistic approach: world-class laboratories and digitalized production facilities will support the development of radar, electronic warfare systems, electro-optics, secure communications, and aerospace applications. Designed with Industry 4.0 principles at its core, the campus enables seamless digital workflow integration across research, development, validation, and prototyping, aiming to accelerate both innovation and deployment. Importantly, the hub welcomes collaboration—offering open doors to European governments, armed forces, academic partners, established defense firms, and startups, thereby nurturing an ecosystem for invention and scaling.
There are still some other initiatives….
The Indra hub, however, does not exist in a vacuum. Across Europe, a sophisticated and rapidly growing innovation landscape has emerged, fueled by a mix of European Union initiatives, national programs, and NATO activities. The European Defence Agency’s Hub for EU Defence Innovation (HEDI), for instance, was launched in 2022 as a pan-EU platform to spur cooperation and synergy among member states’ defense innovation activities. HEDI acts as a catalyst: it not only supports joint research, proof-of-concept funding, and innovation prizes, but also aligns projects with broader EU capability goals and research agendas. Its structure is designed to tie together national efforts, facilitate matchmaking among innovators, and ensure that successes in one country can be adapted or scaled Europe-wide.
Complementing HEDI is the EU Defence Innovation Scheme (EUDIS), which focuses on improving access to the European Defence Fund for startups and SMEs, supporting projects ranging from AI and cybersecurity to advanced sensors and robotics. EUDIS serves a bridging function, helping civilian and dual-use technologies find their way into defense applications, and financing hackathons, demonstration hubs, and business support via national focal points.
NATO’s Defense Hub DIANA
On the transatlantic front, NATO’s Defense Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) brings another layer to the innovation patchwork. DIANA’s mission is to foster emerging and disruptive technologies through a network of test centers, accelerators, and a dedicated venture capital arm—the NATO Innovation Fund. Inspired in part by the US DARPA, DIANA is headquartered in the UK and Estonia, focusing particularly on harnessing dual-use tech and supporting collaboration with startups and academic teams across the alliance.
Other national hubs add yet more diversity and momentum. Nevertheless, the Indra Hub consists of some German connections. In 2025, Rheinmetall Landsysteme and Indra signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on armored vehicle projects for the Spanish Armed Forces, including modernization efforts involving electronic and digital systems. This MoU represents a strong alliance strengthening defense industrial cooperation and technological exchange between Spain and Germany, reflecting Rheinmetall’s stake as an important industrial partner integrated into Indra’s projects, which are also connected to the Indra Technology Hub’s ambitions.
And in Germany, France, etc.?
Further German collaboration is exemplified through Indra’s contracts and integrations in Germany’s air surveillance and air traffic management. Indra holds substantial contracts with German air navigation service provider DFS to overhaul and modernize the country’s radar and surveillance systems. This operational presence supports Germany’s airspace security with advanced technologies developed and integrated by Indra, suggesting indirect German industrial and technological engagement with Indra’s broader ecosystem. France boasts institutions like the ONERA aerospace lab and defense accelerators in Paris, while Belgium, the Czech Republic, and the Nordics have invested in hubs that blend public-private collaboration on electronics, materials, and unmanned systems. The Czech Defence Hub in Prague, for example, supports advanced development in both defense and dual-use technologies.
Munich becoming a center for Defense Innovations in Germany
The Munich region’s Digital Hub Security & Defense further exemplifies Germany’s commitment to leveraging civil-military collaboration and startup engagement, drawing on Germany’s robust tech ecosystem to fuel innovation for both defense industry and national security.
What distinguishes the Indra Technology Hub is its scale and its physical integration—a rarity among many European initiatives, which operate via networked centres, hackathons, and partnerships. This massive, centralized campus in Spain is poised to anchor cooperation, production, and research in a way that complements the dynamic, distributed models present elsewhere.
Defense Hubs reshaping Europe’s strategic landscape
In this context, the proliferation of defense hubs is reshaping Europe’s strategic landscape. These institutions accelerate the digital transformation of defense, foster sovereign supply chains, and bring together the best of civil society, academia, and industry to resolve urgent capability gaps. They also multiply Europe’s ability to adapt to evolving threats—whether via AI, autonomous systems, resilient communications, cyber defense, or next-generation space-based technologies.
As geopolitical tensions prompt Europe to reduce external dependencies, these hubs—led by showpiece projects like the Indra Technology Hub—are becoming critical engines for both innovation and resilience.
As the Indra Technology Hub moves toward its opening in 2026, it promises not just new capacity for Spain, but a new centre of gravity for European defense cooperation—joining a rich tapestry of continental innovation and marking a pivotal change in how Europe prepares for the security challenges of tomorrow.
