Indra wins €36m contract for Leonardo-led OCEAN2020 initiative

Indra won a €36 million (USD $44 million) contract as part of the European Defence Agency’s project OCEAN2020, the largest defense R&D initiative backed by the European Union's new European Defense Fund to date.

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 that will run from 2021 to 2027. The research seeks to reinforce situational awareness in extensive naval environments. It is the first example of a joint European collaboration for research in this sector.

Ocean2020 is led by Leonardo with the participation of 42 partners from 15 Member States, including large companies, universities, research centers and defense ministries.

The research project will also see the integration of unmanned platforms in surveillance and interdiction missions, such fixed wing, rotary wing, surface and underwater. It’ll provide a new venue to see the cooperative benefits of using unmanned and manned vehicles together. The endeavor is scheduled to begin in 2019 in the Mediterranean Sea.