Indra has finished developing an innovative, lightweight and portable electronic defense system (manpack), which equips soldiers with the most advanced radar-band analysis capacities to determine the position of enemy air defense systems, aircraft, vessels or vehicles, the Spanish company said at Eurosatory 2018.

Indra's booth at Eurosatory 2018

Until now, because of its size and complexity, electronic warfare equipment had to be installed in fixed locations, vehicles and other platforms. Indra has reduced its size and weight to incorporate it into a backpack that is easy to carry by one individual.

As such, this equipment harnesses the soldier's ability to infiltrate a hostile zone and approach the target area to gather intelligence without being detected. It also harnesses their ability to move across mountainous and steep areas that are often inaccessible to vehicles.

The system scans any radar signal and analyzes its characteristics to find out how the enemy uses its surveillance systems and how they can be neutralized. The system's robust and reliable algorithms incorporate the most advanced artificial intelligence techniques to learn how to characterize radar pulses with increasing precision, how to operate in dense electromagnetic environments and how to identify the most effective countermeasures.

The information gathered by soldiers will play a key role in hindering the efforts of enemy radars to surprise and attack our forces. It will also facilitate the work of countermeasure teams and help them blind or deceive enemy systems by disrupting their signal.

This manpack equipment is able to exchange information in real time with other units and, as such, help create an electronic defense network. The data are then sent to the command center for planning and oversight. The result is a major tactical advantage over the enemy, which is a decisive factor in the operation's success.

The development of this new generation of solutions derives from Indra's efforts in the last few years to adapt its portfolio of solutions to the needs and requirements of armed forces across the world.

The company is still a strong leader in electronic defense, a sector in which it has competed for over thirty years. It supplied the full electronic defense system used by the Spanish army. Its solutions protect more than twenty types of platforms used in countries on all five continents. Its technology is used in sophisticated aircraft such as Eurofighter and A400M, helicopters, frigates and the most modern conventional submarines.