The Spanish defense industry, led by the sector’s employers’ association Tedae, will participate next week in an exploratory mission to India to assess the avenues for collaboration and technological exchange with this country, the third largest investment in activities behind USA and China. The project has been announced a week after the Indian Defense Acquisition Council approved the purchase of 15 Airbus C295 aircraft assembled at the Airbus headquarters in La Rinconada, in Seville, for military use.
These industrial missions are now one of the main priorities set by Tedea’s general assembly for 2024, with the aim of promoting the activities of its companies abroad. In India, 70% of the budget must originate from its own soil, so it is very difficult to access its market without manufacturing from there.
Among the objectives presented in the association’s 2024 agenda, budget stability, program continuity, technological sovereignty and strategic autonomy of Spain and the entire European Union (EU) stand out. Tedea continues to insist on the Europeanization of the Defense industry. The employers consider that, even with the steps towards the creation of the European Defense Agency, the provision of a community fund or the recent request to appoint a specialized commissioner, the desired objectives are not achieved.
Funding source
Last Friday, the EU Economy and Finance Ministers agreed on the need to increase spending on security and defense. The association, in response, considers that the European Investment Bank (EIB) should become the main financing engine. Currently, the agency has restricted powers to grant financing funds to companies dedicated to security and defense, such as dual-use products and technologies (civil or military), R&D projects or security of critical buildings.
Nadia Calviño, president of the EIB, announced during a press conference that the bank is ready to contribute “more and better” to the European defense industry and assured that it will join with the European Commission and other interested bodies for a redefinition of the Concept of dual-use technologies.
