- The purpose of the decoration is to recognize actions, deeds or services of outstanding merit or importance related to the military institution.
- This high distinction is awarded to the president of the Spanish technology company in recognition of his role in promoting industry collaboration with the Spanish Air and Space Force.
Madrid, March 15, 2024The executive president of Grupo Oesía, Luis Furnells, has received the Aeronautical Merit Cross with White Distinctive in the category of civil personnel in the act of Imposition of Decorations Great Crosses and Crosses of the Aeronautical Merit and Great Crosses of the Royal and Military Order of San Hermenegildo.
The official ceremony, held at the Air and Space Army Headquarters, was presided over by the Chief of Staff of the Air and Space Army, Air General Javier Salto Martínez-Avial, and was attended by civilian and military authorities.
Grupo Oesía, the company chaired since 2014 by Luis Furnells, is a technological multinational, 100% Spanish and private, which works with the purpose of creating a better, more efficient, safe and sustainable world; it is an organization with the will to serve the Spanish Armed Forces, Forces and Security Forces of the State.
This important decoration is awarded in recognition of merits, deeds or services of outstanding merit or importance related to the Air Force. In the case of the president of Grupo Oesía and in the words of the Air General Javier Salto Martínez-Avial, it has been valued “his role in promoting the collaboration of the industry with the Air Force to provide it with essential operational capabilities through investment in R+D+i, as well as his commitment to the aerospace industry and his constant support to the Air and Space Army”.
Since Furnells’ presidency, Grupo Oesía has become a Tier1 manufacturer that supplies directly to large platform and system manufacturers hyper-specialized solutions and products of its own design and manufacturing in cutting-edge and disruptive technologies, which are key to increase the degree of national sovereignty and European strategic autonomy.
In the words of the president of Grupo Oesía: ‘I feel enormously honored and proud of this distinction. This is a milestone in the history of the company over which I preside and which I feel is one of the most important personal projects of my life and, without a doubt, the most important in the professional sphere”. In this sense, Luis Furnells added “My commitment to our Air and Space Army and, by extension, to our Armed Forces and State Security Forces and Corps is reaffirmed. We will continue to contribute with our developments and investments to strengthen our country’s strategic defense and security capabilities”.