Miguel García Moreno, Indra’s Director of Air Dominance, said that “Indra’s Directed Infrared Countermeasures system (DIRCM) is an extremely advanced technology, available to very few companies and countries worldwide,” and highlighted “the sound decision by the Ministry of Defence to support the development of a critical system such as this by a Spanish company, helping to strengthen sovereignty and strategic autonomy.” Aircraft such as the A400M play a central role in deploying troops and equipment for the Spanish Armed Forces and their allies, but their large payload capacity requires relatively low operating speeds during take-off and landing, increasing exposure to man-portable air-defence systems.
InShield is designed to respond immediately to a missile launch, calculate its trajectory and direct a laser energy beam at the missile’s infrared guidance system to deflect it, with the capacity to counter multiple simultaneous threats due to its precision and rapid processing. The modular system can also be installed on other aircraft and helicopters and has been contracted for platforms including the CH-47 and NH-90.
Indra said the system’s effectiveness has been validated in different environments, notably during NATO’s EMBOW XVI exercises aboard a Spanish Army CH-47 Chinook and in various live-fire trials using real projectiles, which delivered very positive results. Prior to these tests, an R&D programme was completed to characterise the system in collaboration with the General Subdirectorate for Planning, Technology and Innovation (PLATIN), with technical support from the Air and Space Force’s Electronic Warfare Operational Support Squadron, as the company seeks to reinforce its position in electronic defence systems in Europe and globally.
