Indra lands Tiger MkIII electronic defence contracts

Indra announced on 1 June that it has received a number of contracts from OCCAR, worth €90 million ($96.2 million), to develop Spanish Army Tiger MkIII attack helicopter electronic defence and mission systems. 

The manufacturer said that the systems would enable the aircraft to 'operate in the most complex scenarios against the increasingly varied and sophisticated threats that will emerge in the coming years.' 

The Spanish Army is to receive digital self-protection systems and what Indra referred to as the 'most modern tactical mission system in existence,' dubbed SPC2, with both pieces of equipment set to be operational from 2030. 

'The self-protection suite (EWS) that Indra will implement in the Tigre MKIII will have a sophisticated radar threat warning system with direct spectrum digitization, the ALR-400FD Full Digital, which offers an extremely high signal processing capacity to detect systems surveillance and targeting sensors before they lock onto a target on the platform,' noted the manufacturer. 'This element also plays a critical role, since it incorporates the EW Manager function in charge of managing and integrating all the aircraft's self-protection elements and activating countermeasures to automatically neutralize any ground-air and air-air attack.' 

Both Spanish and French Tiger MkIII fleets, (up to 82 helicopters) are also to be equipped with Indra's IFF system.

'This system will allow both the identification of the platform itself to third parties and the interrogation of other aircraft in order to classify them as friendly or enemy, which is achieved thanks to the CIT-25A combined interrogator-transponder system,' said Indra. 

'The equipment is complemented by elements such as the remote control box, the control matrix and a Mode 5 crypto-computer, which represent a modernization with respect to current systems of this type. 

'The integration also includes the certification of the Department of the United States (US DoD AIMS) to be able to operate in all types of international scenarios, an essential requirement for IFFs that operate using the new Mode 5 identification within NATO.'

Talking of SPC2 capabilities the manufacturer also said that it would enable C2 helicopter interoperability to provide commanders and pilot with a digital view of the battlefield in real time. 

OCCAR, on behalf of France and Spain, officially launched the Tiger MkIII programme with Airbus and MBDA in March 2022.