The Trident initiative, with a budget of 20 million euros and a duration of 36 months, aims to create a new generation European system for counter-battery capabilities. This project integrates heterogeneous sensors, advanced data fusion, AI-supported decision-making, and resilient fire control against emerging threats.
Within this consortium, coordinated by Thales, Catec will play a crucial role. Its work will focus on developing navigation algorithms for environments where GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) is denied or degraded, as well as on target detection, localization, and tracking, performing processing directly on board.
The technology center's expertise in this field was recently demonstrated during the Tactical Experimentation Campaign 2026 (TEC-3) of the Spanish Army. One of Trident's key innovations is the ability to deploy unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that provide direct support to ground units, facilitating communications and locating threats through on-board processing, without relying on external elements.
“"We are very satisfied with this new award because it demonstrates Catec's ability to respond to a demanding and highly competitive program within the defense market, consolidating a continuous trajectory in European initiatives of great technical complexity and strong industrial cooperation."
This new achievement adds to four other projects in which Catec is already participating within the European Defence Funds. These include Aidedex, focused on AI-powered detection and neutralization of explosive devices; Pasithea, which develops hybrid unmanned autonomous vehicle systems; Saber, for strategic autonomous vehicles for battlefield reconnaissance and logistics; and Stealth, focused on developing UAV swarms to enhance tactical and operational autonomy in the aerial domain.
