Innovative propulsion systems for defence applications

Expected Impact: The outcome should contribute to: • the spin-in of civil European R&D into the defence sector; • enabling Member States and EDF associated countries (Norway) armed forces to meet EU Green Deal targets, and to be climate neutral by 2050, with only minimal loss of military and joint operational capabilities; • facilitating the introduction of new propulsion and energy integrated systems technologies by reducing their evaluation time and cost, thus providing a cutting-edge tactical advantage in operations, while contributing to energy transformation in Europe; • developing the autonomy of the industrial sector in the EU and enhance cross-border cooperation (from large industrial groups to SMEs) in a high-tech niche sector; • the EU technological sovereignty and strategic autonomy ahead of future non-associated third-country competitors; • enhancing complementarity and stimulate cross-fertilisation between civil and defence technologies and solutions in this area. Objective: General objective The EU has set the goal of becoming a climate-resilient society by 2050, fully adapted to the unavoidable impacts of climate change. With this target, the EU tracks its progress on cutting emissions through regular monitoring and reporting, and sets targets to progressively reduce its greenhouse gas emissions targeting net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. These targets could affect also military platforms, which progressively must reduce their GHG (Green House Gases) emissions similarly as other economic sectors. In the field of mobility and transportation, the Green Deal objectives aim especially at boosting energy efficiency and ecodesign of products, reducing dependence on fossil fuels, promoting renewable and low-carbon gases and also supporting sustainable and sovereign key component development. Innovations on propulsion systems are of higher interest in the heart of the contribution of the defence sector to address the European “Fit for 55” target. It is also an opportunity for defence to foster sovereignty and strategic autonomy while enhancing defence core capabilities (range, autonomy, silent operation and watch, lower signature…). Developing innovative propulsion systems adapted for military operations without compromising current defence capabilities is challenging, and the specific military environment can limit the transfer of civil technologies regarding safety, maintenance, cost and supply issues. In this sense, one of the main issues that Member States and EDF associated countries (Norway) armed forces, especially in the land and naval domain, are facing is to meet EU Green Deal (EUGD) targets with the existing fleets. Long military platforms lifespan forces to analyse existing and emerging sustainable fuels regarding their projected availability and useability as sustainable fuel solutions for a transitional period without significantly modifying current platform’s configuration. Therefore, a first step on the green transitional pathway must be a focus on the land and naval domain, to offer solutions to their existing platforms, for example by analysing Sustainable Fuels (SF) keeping EUGD and suitable to be used in retrofitted conventional combustion engines or looking at adaptations of conventional propulsion systems to enhance efficiency. The use of SF must not change the vessel’s and vehicle’s current structure neither compromise their present operational range. Supporting the scale-up of innovative propulsion technologies for defence applications (marine, land) is essential to make military equipment more efficient and less reliant on fossil fuels. This research topic may cover several areas such as low carbon advanced fuels, improved engine energy efficiency, hybridisation or alternative propulsion concepts. Future capability and operational challenges require to conduct research on the next generation of integrated architectures for military platforms, able to manage energy distribution for propulsion, in order to enhance their mobility, their survivability, their capability and their resilience to cope with multiple threats within a large range of missions, while reducing fossil energy, ensuring maintainability and support, and optimising life cycle costs. Technological challenge: The solutions must ensure high level of safety, low logistics footprint and life cycle cost reduction. The solutions must also take into account the possibility of retrofitting existing units at low cost. Based on civil industry research achievements and civil-driven innovations, no technology risk is expected regarding, for example, the adaptation of available bio-fuel and e-fuel to be used as a reference to develop a military standard for the use of SF. Market barriers: The solutions may derive from COTS components when possible in order to be affordable and to ensure maintainability and support in operations. Specific objective The specific objective of this topic is to spin-in results generated in other civil EU-funded research programmes to the defence sector. To do so, different types of innovative propulsion systems that are integrated into innovative energy architectures are to be identified and analysed. This spin-in of knowledge into the defence sector should aim to the highest possible reduction of greenhouse gases integrating new technologies. The solutions should consider alternative sources of sustainable fuels (pure biofuels, hydrogen, hydrogen-based fuels as ammonia, methanol, LOHC and e-fuels), used standalone or mixed with conventional fuels, and propulsion solutions. As a first step, the proposals must define the gradual adaptation for the land and naval domain. As the current platforms appear to be vulnerable to fossil energy supply, the operational benefit provided by the innovative propulsions and energy solutions (higher autonomy, efficiency, redundancy, new operating modes, as e.g. silent mode and extended silent watch, low thermal signature, maintaining access to emission control area) represents an opportunity to foster users’ capability needs. The development of joint European capabilities on core alternative propulsion and energy architectures must nevertheless address the ability to operate in specific military scenarios and ensure the highest level of safety, low logistics footprint and life cycle cost reduction. The proposals should analyse a range of solutions that can contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gases to meet the EUGD without compromising operational capabilities, including solutions suitable for retrofitting existing units/vessels but also solutions for future units/vessels. It is also of interest to provide an overview of innovative management of energy for propulsion systems in combination with all the aforementioned additional measures and assess which combination can reduce greenhouse gases most efficiently while maintaining at the same time the requirements requested. As main challenge, alternative propulsion and energy systems for military platforms will imply to study their integration into a wider scope, in order to maintain their combat effectiveness, thus covering energy supply in operations including powering infrastructure and logistical issues. The proposals should provide solutions to issues of safety and long-term storage concerns, which make them otherwise inapplicable for military uses. The solutions should be specifically adapted to platforms that operate in critical combat scenarios. Attention should be given to promote solutions for the next generation systems and for retrofitting the current military propulsion systems. Scope: The proposals must address solutions of innovative architectures based on efficient energy management and advanced propulsion technologies for application in defence. Solutions will be analysed/compared through presentation of KPIs or other parametric method. Relevant indexes valid for multiple domains will are preferable. The proposals must fo