Interoperability: key to turning autonomy into a real operational capability

From 3 to 4 June, the city of Gijón, Asturias, hosted the ENDR Conference 2026, a leading forum for the defense industry that brought together government officials, companies, and experts to analyze the technological and operational challenges that will shape the evolution of military capabilities in the coming years.

José Luis Delgado, director of Ground Programs at GMV, participated in the panel discussion on “Unmanned systems and their integration into real operation,” which addressed topics such as the role of interoperability and Command-and-Control systems in the integration of unmanned aerial, ground, and maritime platforms within a common operational framework. 

Delgado explained that the challenge no longer lies solely in developing autonomous vehicles, but in integrating unmanned aerial, ground, and maritime systems into a common operational framework that enables the effective planning, task assignment, monitoring, and coordination of their operations. He agreed with the idea that the evolution of unmanned systems has shifted the focus of the technological challenge and that, while a few years ago the main goal was to develop increasingly advanced autonomous platforms, today the priority is to ensure that these platforms can operate in a coordinated manner within a shared environment.

Delgado also highlighted the importance of Command-and-Control (C2) systems as the backbone of this integration, and referred to several initiatives in which GMV is participating, such as the European IMUGS-2 project and the national initiative for the Spanish Air and Space Force, SAGA-3.