EIB Signs €30M Loan with Grupo Oesía to Strengthen Europe’s Defence Tech

The financing will underpin projects that enhance Europe’s security and defence capabilities, while also strengthening the competitiveness of the EU’s high-tech industrial base.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed a €30 million loan agreement with Grupo Oesía, a Spanish technology multinational, to support its research, development and innovation (RDI) activities in advanced and strategically important technologies. The financing will underpin projects that enhance Europe’s security and defence capabilities, while also strengthening the competitiveness of the EU’s high-tech industrial base.

Grupo Oesía is a global leader in advanced digital and industrial engineering, delivering dual-use technologies for both civilian and military applications. The company exports to more than 40 countries and plays a key role in Europe’s defence and security ecosystem. The EIB-backed investment will allow the group to accelerate innovation in areas considered critical amid rising geopolitical tensions and growing demands for European strategic autonomy.

The loan will finance RDI investments in cutting-edge technologies, including defence and anti-missile systems, military mobility solutions, uncrewed and autonomous systems, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. These technologies are essential not only for defence readiness but also for wider industrial and digital transformation. The planned investments will be carried out primarily in Spain, covering new infrastructure, advanced equipment and production processes to expand manufacturing capacity and speed up the development of next-generation products.

By strengthening technological capabilities and industrial scale, the project is expected to reinforce the resilience of Europe’s security and defence supply chains. It will also help reduce external dependencies, supporting the European Union’s goal of achieving greater strategic autonomy in key technologies and defence-related systems.

Commenting on the agreement, EIB Group President Nadia Calviño emphasised the strategic importance of innovation for Europe’s security. She noted that investing in advanced technology is essential to maintaining Europe’s competitiveness and ensuring that European companies can develop the capabilities needed to respond to evolving security challenges.

From the company’s perspective, Luis Furnells, Chairman and CEO of Grupo Oesía, described the financing as a strong endorsement of the group’s long-term strategy. He highlighted that the loan will support the development of critical technologies such as integrated photonics, optical communications, infrared search and track (IRST) systems, multi-band and multi-orbit satellite terminals and pilot training systems. According to Furnells, these investments will contribute to building a safer, more autonomous and technologically competitive Europe.

The operation forms part of the EIB Group’s strategic priority to strengthen Europe’s security and defence, as outlined in its Strategic Roadmap for 2024–2027. Since 2024, security and defence has become a permanent cross-cutting public policy objective for the EIB Group and one of its eight core strategic priorities.

The loan also supports the TechEU programme, the EIB Group’s flagship initiative to accelerate innovation across the European Union. Under TechEU, the EIB Group aims to mobilise €250 billion in investment by 2027 for startups, scaleups and innovative companies operating in advanced and strategic technologies. The financing is further backed by the EU’s InvestEU programme, which helps de-risk investments aligned with EU policy goals.

To reinforce its role in this area, the EIB Group has updated its lending policy, expanding the eligibility criteria for security and defence projects, and has established a dedicated Security and Defence Office to ensure faster and more effective responses to project proposals. Together, these measures underline the EIB Group’s growing role as a key financial partner in strengthening Europe’s technological sovereignty and defence readiness.