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EUROPEAN DEFENCE FUND – Research actions in the form of a technological challenge implemented via lump sum grants – 2026

EDF – The European Defence Fund aims at promoting cooperation among companies and research actors of all sizes and geographic origin in the Union, in research and development of state-of-the-art and interoperable defence technology and equipment.

2026-09-29
30 million euros
Open

Call synthesis

Call reference EDF-2026-LS-RA-CHALLENGE
Programme EUROPEAN DEFENCE FUND
Institution European Commission
Sectors Justice, Security, Defence Research & Innovation Technology & Digital
Beneficiaries Association & NGO Large company (> 250 employees) Research centre & university Smes & Start-Ups (< 249 Employees) State administration & affiliated entities

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Call reference

EDF-2026-LS-RA-CHALLENGE



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Priorities and funded actions

Objectives

  • To follow up and complement previous activities in the field of hidden threat detection
  • To explore solutions that combine intelligent robots, drones and sensing technologies for advanced detection and classification of threats
  • To organise a technological challenge and set up a test environment

Among financed actions

  • Activities that aim to create, underpin and improve knowledge which can achieve significant effects in the area of defence
  • Studies
  • Design of a defence product

Eligibility

  • Be legal entities (public or private bodies)
  • Be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:
    • EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs))
    • non-EU countries :
  • Beneficiaries and affiliated entities must register in the Participant Register before submitting the proposal
  • A consortium composed of minimum 3 independent applicants (beneficiaries; not affiliated entities) from 3 different eligible countries must be constituted.

Additional information

  • Initial duration of the action: 48 months

Projects of longer duration may be accepted in duly justified cases. Extensions are possible, if duly justified and through an amendment.

  • Contact: DEFIS-EDF-PROPOSALS@ec.europa.eu

 

Useful

Financement
  • Total budget of the call: 30 million euros
  • Budget per topic:
    • EDF-2026-LS-RA-CHALLENGE-DIGIT-AISAP: 23 million euros
    • EDF-2026-LS-RA-CHALLENGE-DIGIT-AISAO: 7 million euros
  • Amount of the grant:
    • EDF-2026-LS-RA-CHALLENGE-DIGIT-AISAP: must not exceed 4.6 million euros
    • EDF-2026-LS-RA-CHALLENGE-DIGIT-AISAO: must not exceed the budget available for the topic (7 million euros)
  • Funding rate: 100% of the total eligible costs

The grant awarded may be lower than the amount requested.

This grant is a lump sum grant.