idD Portugal Defence ensured its presence at the 2024 Army Day celebrations through participation in the Innovation Seminar and by supporting defence industry entities present at the project and technology exhibitions.
The Innovation Seminar was titled “The Portuguese Army: A World of Opportunities for the Defence Industry.” During Session C, Eng. Carlos Félix, Chairman of idD Portugal Defence, delivered a presentation on “The Portuguese Strategy for the Defence Industry.”
A key point in Carlos Félix’s speech was the analysis of context costs in the defence economy, which encompass a variety of factors beyond the direct costs of military equipment production and acquisition, including aspects common to many industries such as energy costs, taxation, and access to financing.
Carlos Félix highlighted four critical areas that influence context costs in the defence economy:
- Research and Development (R&D): R&D expenditures are essential for driving innovation and the development of new military technologies. These costs are often high due to the complexity and sophistication of defence technologies.
- Security and Classification Costs: Due to the sensitivity of information and technologies involved in defence, costs associated with physical, cyber security, and data, information, and material classification are significant.
- Long Life Cycles: Military equipment, by nature, has long life cycles, meaning that context costs include not only initial acquisition costs but also ongoing maintenance, upgrades, and eventual decommissioning costs.
- Regulation and Compliance: The defence industry is subject to strict regulations at both national and international levels. This includes export controls, arms regulations, and security standards, among others, which can increase operational and administrative costs.
idD Portugal Defence also took the opportunity to highlight the Qualification Marks for Military Systems and Equipment, developed in collaboration with the Army. This initiative addresses the need for national companies to demonstrate the effectiveness of their solutions in field operations, serving as a facilitator for commercial contacts and promoting the internationalization of Portuguese technology.
The qualification system consists of two levels:
- Army Tested: Applicable to systems or products that meet the Army’s defined requirements.
- Combat Proven: For systems or products that have also been successfully used in real military operations.
The event also featured a technology exhibition and a project exhibition showcasing work from national defence industry entities. The project exhibition presented several innovative works, including those from Beyond Composite, Beyond Vision, the Polytechnic Institute of Guarda, the University of Beira Interior, Ensiguarda, Socedia Safety & Mobility Guarda SA, as well as the UMLDBQ Project, the Overwatch Project, the Acting – Cyberdefence Project, the Elite 2 – Exoskeleton Project, and the Additive Manufacturing Project (CINAMIL projects) from the Instituto Superior Técnico.
The technology exhibition included the following entities: Beyond Vision, Beyond Composite, Synopsis Planet, UAVision, Arquus (Rodasa), Institute of Telecommunications, Fibrenamics / Latino Group, EID, CEiiA, INDRA Sistemas Pt, Thinklogical, HEN, University of Beira Interior, SODECIA Safety & Mobility Guarda, S.A., Polytechnic Institute of Guarda, ENSIGUARDA, CITEVE, and Deep Neuronic (partner of UBI). The exhibition showcased the diversity and technological capability of the national industry.
idD Portugal Defence’s participation aimed to ensure an interface between the Defence Industry and the Armed Forces, promote the role of the Defence Industry to the Army, support Defence Technological and Industrial Base (BTID) entities in their technological development efforts, and promote qualification marks, an initiative developed in collaboration with the Army.
Consult the video from the innovation session:
