HELSINKI (Reuters) – Patria has acquired Belgium-based Ilias Solutions for an undisclosed sum in a deal the Finnish defence group believes will allow it to lead the way in the digitisation of Europe’s defence industry.
Ilias’ digital defence software is used by more than 30 countries, NATO and air forces including those of the United States, Britain and Greece.
Patria, owned by new NATO member Finland and Norway’s Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, said the deal would help to manage capability gaps revealed by the military aid European nations are providing to Ukraine in its war against Russia.
Ilias’ platform allows data to be collected from military equipment to move from defect-based repairs to anticipatory maintenance and fleet management, Patria’s Executive Vice President Jussi Jarvinen told Reuters.
“It is precisely the harnessing of data that is difficult, not so much collecting it,” he said on the sidelines of the SecD-Day defence conference in Helsinki.
Many military capabilities remain largely undigitised and are therefore difficult to maintain and manage, Ilias’ Chief Operating Officer Harald Kokelkoren said, adding its software brought artificial intelligence to military equipment management.
The deal is subject to regulatory approvals in countries including Belgium, the Netherlands, the U.S., Denmark and Australia.
(Reporting by Anne Kauranen in Helsinki; Editing by Mark Potter)
