European Defence Fund 2024: A Leap Towards Enhanced Security and Innovation

European Defence Fund 2024: A Leap Towards Enhanced Security and Innovation

On 20 June, the 2024 calls for proposal of the European Defence Fund (EDF) have opened.

The EDF has the purpose of strengthening the European defence industry, positively impacting not only the European innovation economy, but also European security. The call of this year sees a particular focus on detection technologies (such as radars and satellites), unmanned systems (for air, land, sea surface, and sub-surface), and most of all, AI assistance in simulations, training, and targeting.

Three flagship topics are included:

• Long-Endurance Remotely Piloted Aircraft System, with a €100 million maximum grant.
• Next-Generation Rotorcraft, also with a maximum grant of €100 million.
• Anti-Air System against Hypersonic weapons, with a maximum grant of €78 million.

Three non-thematic topics are also available; one for disruptive defence research, one for innovation by SMEs specifically, and one for development by SMEs.

For each call, a consortium must be made of at least three companies, representing at least three countries, which are either EU member states or Norway. Each company must also be under majority-control within the EU or Norway.

The total budget is €1.1 billion spread over 32 topics in 8 calls for proposal.

In case of interest in applying for EDF funding, feel free to reach out to EUDIS (the responsible agency), your National Focal Point, or to the EUFUNDINGHUB.

In the weeks since the opening of the 2024 EDF calls, the EUCO summit addressing defence challenges has passed (27 June), Hungary has put defence industry as a top priority on the agenda for its half-year presidency of the European Council (1 July), and further military support of Ukraine has been promised at the NATO Summit in Washington (11 July). Thus, it seems the issue of a stronger, more secure Europe, will continue to gain even more relevance into the near future.

As recent events highlight the growing emphasis on defence, the 2024 EDF calls represent a crucial step in ensuring a safer and more technologically advanced Europe, making now the perfect time to engage and contribute to this significant initiative.

Interested in this topic? On 16 October 2024 the annual European Defence & Security Conference (EDSC) will take place in Brussels.

To learn more about expanding your opportunities for project funding, contact EUFUNDINGHUB !