EDF – European Defense Fund – 2021-2027

The European Defence Fund is the successor to two pilot programmes, both implemented under the 2014-2020 multiannual financial framework: the “Preparatory Action for Defence Research” and the “European Defence Industrial Programme”. It aims to strengthen the competitiveness, efficiency and innovation capacity of the European defence industry by supporting collaborative actions and cross-border cooperation between legal entities throughout the EU, including SMEs and mid-cap companies, and by promoting better exploitation of the industrial potential of innovation, research and technological development at each stage of the industrial life cycle, thereby contributing to the EU’s strategic autonomy. It should also contribute to the Union’s freedom of action and autonomy.

Objectives 

• To support collaborative research projects that could significantly improve the performance of future capabilities, aimed at maximising innovation and introducing new defence-related products and technologies, including disruptive products and technologies
• To support collaborative projects for the development of defence-related products and technologies consistent with the defence capability priorities agreed by Member States in the context of the Common Foreign and Security Policy, thereby contributing to a more rational use of defence spending within the EU, achieving greater economies of scale, reducing the risk of duplication and hence fragmentation of defence-related products and technologies across the EU
• To lead to greater interoperability between Member States’ capabilities

Structure

• Research actions
• Development actions

Financed actions

• Activities aimed at generating, supporting and improving new defence-related knowledge and technologies likely to have a significant defence impact
• Activities aimed at increasing interoperability and resilience, including the secure production and exchange of data, mastering defence-critical technologies, enhancing security of supply or enabling the effective exploitation of results for defence-related products and technologies
• Studies, such as feasibility studies to investigate the feasibility of a new product, technology, process, service or solution, or the feasibility of improving a product, technology, process, service or solution, or defence industry statistics and projects to organise data collection
• The design of a product, a tangible or intangible component or a defence-related technology, and the definition of the technical specifications on which such a design is based, which may include partial testing with a view to reducing risks in an industrial or representative environment
• The development of a model of a defence-related product, tangible or intangible component or technology capable of demonstrating the element’s performance in an operational environment (system prototype)
• Tests carried out on a product, a tangible or intangible component or a defence-related technology
• Qualification of a product, a tangible or intangible component or a defence-related technology. Qualification” refers to the entire process of demonstrating that the design of a product, a tangible or intangible component or a defence-related technology meets established requirements. This process provides objective evidence that the design complies with the specific requirements
• Certification of a defence-related product, tangible or intangible component or technology. Certification is the procedure by which a national authority certifies that the product, tangible or intangible component or technology relating to defence complies with the applicable regulations.
• The development of technologies or goods that increase efficiency throughout the lifecycle of defence-related products and technologies
• Dissemination, networking and awareness-raising activities