Paris, 4 November 2026. At Euronaval, FYLA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Indra, Aragon Photonics, Iqua Robotics, SAES, Sateliot and UTEK. The agreement launches SIPRIS, an initiative coordinated by Indra to build sovereign capabilities for persistent surveillance and protection of undersea infrastructure.
The MoU was signed at Indra’s stand at Euronaval, the leading international naval defence event, held in Paris from 3 to 6 November. Pere Pérez Millán, FYLA’s CEO, signed on behalf of the company.
An integrated picture, from the surface to the seabed
Communication cables, pipelines and other undersea infrastructure are now critical assets for Europe. SIPRIS aims to give a common, modular answer to the need to monitor them. It will combine sovereign intelligence and AI, uncrewed vehicles, sensors, and mission and communication systems to build one integrated picture of the environment, from the surface down to the seabed.
FYLA’s role: underwater optical communications
FYLA will bring its expertise in underwater optical communication technologies to SIPRIS. These technologies let the different assets deployed underwater share information with each other. The system can only work as a whole if its sensors, autonomous vehicles and platforms communicate quickly and reliably, so this capability is an essential part of the architecture.
An ecosystem of complementary capabilities
Each partner brings its own specialty:
- Indra: overall integration, coordination of the ecosystem and system architecture. It will use SEADEF, its family of naval mission systems, and IndraMind, its sovereign AI platform, and will also provide UAV capabilities and communications management.
- SAES: underwater acoustics, with sensors and sonar processing to detect and classify threats.
- UTEK: autonomous surface vehicles (USVs) to extend coverage and add inspection capability.
- Iqua Robotics: autonomous underwater vehicles (UUVs) to inspect infrastructure and detect anomalies automatically.
- Aragon Photonics: high-fidelity distributed acoustic sensing over optical fibre (HDAS), which can detect events across tens of kilometres.
- Sateliot: satellite communications to extend coverage and support distributed operations.
A first step towards European technological sovereignty
According to Ana Belén Buendía, Head of Indra’s Naval Business Unit, SIPRIS “seeks to provide Europe with technological sovereignty and specialised capability to respond to the pressing need to observe, understand and monitor the undersea domain.”
The agreement will help the partners align their efforts and carry out operational demonstrations and joint integration and validation work before the solution goes to market. Other companies, technology centres and Spanish industry players can join SIPRIS over time.
For FYLA, joining SIPRIS takes its photonics technology into defence and maritime security, alongside some of Spain’s most advanced technology companies in the sector.
Sources: Indra press release and El Español – Observatorio de la Defensa.
