Experts from the Defense Industry warn that advances in the sector go through strengthening the ‘start-ups’ | Spain

The changes in the world political map and the turn towards a world order in which The defense fulfills a central role in the strategy of the states They have accelerated the need to innovate in the military industry. To do this, several renowned personalities in the sector coincide: we must give more prominence to the start-ups or emerging defense companies. Managers of some of the top -level companies such as IndraTelefónica or Navantia have participated in a debate in the International Defense and Security Fair of Spain (Feindef)where they have put on the table that collaboration between large companies, along with administration and SMEs could resolve the growing demand for innovation.

The head of the innovation subunit of the Ministry of DefenseLuis Hernández Espinola, in charge of moderating the round table, has asked the speakers about the challenges of the sector to develop the latest technology. Miguel Rego, vice president and general director of the Funditec Research Center, has stated that in Spain there is a very rich military sector, “in which an ecosystem of start-ups« Therefore, He has urged the Ministry headed by Margarita Robles to « make an effort » to open up to these small businesses and « facilitate » different hiring models.

Rego has expressed that access to public contracts of start-ups It is difficult to compete with other large companies « that can be allowed to lower the price » of their products or services. Guillermo González Muñoz de Morales, head of R&D innovation of ISDEFE, has coincided with his partner and added that both administrations and settled companies that absorb the most new have to “know how to take advantage of innovations, not crush and inhibit them”.

In this sense, double -use technology acquires greater prominence. This sector includes innovations that have civil and military use, such as artificial intelligence, satellites, drones or nanotechnology. Jesús Abraham Fernández, responsible for innovation in defense of TelefónicaHe explained that, when he speaks with university students who have devised a product with military potential, they often reply that they did not know that their technology « served to be used in defense. » In addition, he has opted to “generate a HUB (exchange center) of innovation ”, led by the Ministry, where all actors contributing to the national defense » can do so in a coordinated manner. « 

Participants in the round table have agreed that there is a lack of efficient ecosystem so that start-ups They can incorporate their novelties into the military market. The sector of these companies has practically stagnated since 2017, according to the 2024 entrepreneurship map, prepared by South Summit in collaboration with IE University. Salvador Aragón, Chief Innovation Offer (CIO) of IE University, put the United States as a mirror in which to look to manage the start-ups. “It is very interesting what they do in the defense sector, when hiring very innovative products or services to the start-ups, Because they are those that offer very different solutions, and they have the ability to finance these developments with a risk appetite very different from that of a normal company, ”he explained to El País in October 2024, when the report was published.

The speakers have chatted during the first day of Feindef, which is held at the Madrid Fair (IFEMA) from Monday until Wednesday. The fair has been inaugurated with the presence of Margarita Robles and of the head of Industry and Tourism, Jordi Hereu. The two ministers, the Secretary of State for Defense, Amparo Valcarce and the director of the CNI, Esperanza Casteleiro, have visited the counters of some of the most important companies in the defense sector. More than 600 companies participate in this fourth edition of the Fair.

The event has occupied four of the ten IFEMA pavilions. In the 2023 edition, the event attracted more than 25,000 attendees, according to Feindef data itself. This Monday, more than 12,000 people were lost through the halls of the ships, where they listened to recognized personalities in the sector and contemplated the novelties of the industry, from drones, night vision cameras that use artificial intelligence or combat cars of tens of tens of meters long.