The Supreme Court admitted a contentious-administrative appeal for treatment Santa Barbara so that the 3 billion euros in state loans at 0% interest granted to the temporary union of companies ( … UTE) configured between Indra and society Notary Mechanical and engineering (EM&E). This is a line to begin funding the two main artillery programs envisaged in the modernization strategy. military prepared by the government.
The request for preventive suspension of loans is a measure that is part of the contentious-administrative appeal presented by the historic defense company, now in the hands of General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS) against the granting of credits to UTE Indra and Escribano for the programs of the wheeled howitzers (1,181 million euros) and chains (1,821 million euros).
Both loans are included in a royal decree of October 14, 2025 in which the Council of Ministers set the regulatory rules for the direct granting of credits for the industrial development of special military modernization programs. In total, the Executive granted 14.224 million euros in interest-free loans to different companies to pre-finance the development of military modernization programs.
The programs that Indra participates in (whether alone, with a partner or assigned to Surveywhich it has controlled since last Tuesday) accumulate 7.944 million euros in government loans, while those of Airbus total 4.030 million euros (there is a program of 350 million in which they participate Airbus and Indra) and those of Navantia total 2.292 million euros.
The two credits whose blocking was requested as a precaution are the most important granted to Indra, which will carry out projects in various fields (land, sea, space and cyberspace), while those allocated to Airbus and Navantia focus respectively on the air and naval fields.
To “protect” Spanish technology
In this context, sources from Santa Bárbara Sistemas consulted by EP, in addition to confirming the admission of the contentious-administrative appeal for treatment, emphasized that the objective of this judicial initiative is “protect Spanish technology, to the company’s workers and suppliers and strengthen the current industrial capabilities of the defense sector in Spain.
Likewise, the company stressed that it is still in talks with the national defense industrial ecosystem to “achieve the government’s objectives” in the EU’s special modernization and strategic autonomy programs.
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