GMV tackles the challenges of European deterrence at the 8th Defence Forum

On November 6, elEconomista.es held the 8th Defence Forum under the theme “Europe’s Rearmament: Challenges for the Defence Industry.” Opened by María Amparo Valcarce, Spain’s Secretary of State for Defence, the event brought together industry experts to discuss European strategic autonomy and the vulnerabilities that could undermine Europe’s deterrence capability.

Ricardo Sáenz Amandi, Defence and Security General Manager at GMV, took part in the panel discussion “The Return of Deterrence,” which focused on the challenges now facing Spain and Europe. In his remarks, he identified three capabilities needed for deterrence to be credible: the resilience of people and systems against cyberattacks, effective defence against hypersonic threats, and an integrated command and control system.

On cyber resilience, he pointed to the protection of essential services such as navigation and communications. Here he cited GMV’s work on Galileo and GOVSATCOM, as well as the development of Galileo PRS receivers and LEO PNT navigation satellites, designed to bolster the availability of positioning and timing signals against jamming and spoofing.

On defence against hypersonic threats, ballistic missiles in particular, he highlighted Spanish industry’s role in HYDEF, a European program to develop an interceptor missile, and GMV’s contribution to European Defence Fund projects focused on early warning using space-based sensors.

The third challenge, he explained, is having a command and control system that can integrate data from different sensors and domains in real time and link them to the military services’ systems to coordinate a response. By way of illustration, he cited GMV’s capabilities in space, maritime, and air surveillance, as well as its command and control systems for fire support, among them Talos, used by all three branches of the Spanish armed forces. He also mentioned SAPIIEM JISR Suite, GMV’s set of tools for processing and distributing drone data, which is used by NATO and eight countries.

With contributions from GMV and others, the discussion at the 8th Defence Forum concluded by underscoring that credible deterrence and greater European strategic autonomy require developing critical capabilities and being able to operate, maintain, and evolve them.