MADRID, Spain — Spanish technology and defence company Indra has developed an augmented-reality (AR) system that allows crews inside armoured vehicles to effectively see through the vehicle’s armour while remaining protected inside.
The system provides a continuous 360-degree view of the vehicle’s surroundings by combining imagery from external cameras with information from the vehicle’s mission systems. The combined information is displayed directly in the crew member’s field of view through AR glasses.
Traditionally, armoured vehicle crews have relied on periscopes, optical viewfinders and multiple internal displays to monitor their surroundings. Indra’s system is designed to replace this fragmented approach with an integrated visual interface.
The system can present the information as a single panoramic view or across configurable virtual screens. The information can also be adapted to the crew member’s role, including the driver, commander or gunner, and to the stage of an operation.
Indra says the technology is designed to improve situational awareness, safety and crew survivability, particularly in complex environments such as urban operations, where threats can come from different directions and conventional viewing systems can leave blind spots. Crew members can look toward areas of interest while remaining inside the protected vehicle.
The company also says the system can reduce cognitive workload by presenting relevant visual and tactical information within a single field of view instead of requiring operators to interpret several separate displays. This is intended to support faster decision-making during fatigue, stress or rapidly changing battlefield conditions.
The development forms part of Indra’s wider effort to digitalise armoured combat platforms, including technologies intended for Europe’s next generation of main battle tanks and the modernisation of vehicles already in service.
Indra is also developing 360-degree vision and situational-awareness technologies for platforms such as the Spanish Army’s 8x8 Dragon, where it is a lead partner through TESS Defence. Related systems incorporate artificial intelligence for threat detection and analysis.
The broader objective is to turn armoured vehicles into connected nodes within a “system of systems”, linking sensors, mission systems and other battlefield assets through digital networks.
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