Indra’s Olathe Plant Hits Full Swing on Radios, Radars

Indra Group USA’s 118,000-sq-ft facility in Olathe, Kansas, is now fully operational, with production underway on radars and Nexcom VHF/UHF air-to-ground digital radios that will support the FAA’s effort to overhaul the nation’s air traffic control system. 

In June, the group announced that the FAA had commissioned the first new Indra-supplied secondary radar under a contract awarded early this year. The FAA had awarded contracts to both Indra and RTX for installation of up to 612 radars by June 2028. Under the initial phase of that program, Indra is supplying 185 primary and secondary radars. That contract followed an earlier one for Indra to provide as many as 46,000 new radios and associated ground support.

To support these orders, Indra has been ramping up production and held a ribbon-cutting in April for the $50 million Olathe facility. The company recently hosted U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy and U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kansas), along with FAA COO Frank McIntosh and Olathe Mayor John Bacon, on a tour to showcase that it has reached full operations.

“The visit highlights a major operational milestone for Indra Group USA,” the company said. In addition to the air-to-ground digital radios and radar, the facility will produce more than 1,500 ADS-B radios, as well as man-portable tactical air navigation (MP-Tacan) systems for the U.S. Air Force.

“Kansas has a proud aviation history, and we need to make sure our infrastructure is keeping up. From modernizing our air traffic control systems to investing in our airports, these improvements are critical to keeping travelers safe, supporting good-paying jobs, and keeping America the gold standard in aviation,” Marshall said. 

Designed with advanced manufacturing processes and automated electronic testing, the Olathe facility complements Indra’s 40,000-sq-ft facility in nearby Overland Park, Kansas. The two sites combine for more than 200 jobs, representing a doubling of Indra Group’s local workforce in the U.S., the company said.

“With our Kansas facility now fully operational, Indra is supporting key FAA and U.S. [Department of Defense] programs with mission-critical radars, radios, navaids and defense systems,” said Víctor Martínez, executive v-p of air traffic management and mobility at Indra Group. “Our U.S. teams have already delivered more than 3,500 radios, commissioned seven radar sites and deployed [Surface Awareness Initiative] systems at 12 airports.”