EDIP — Defence Innovation Action (BraveTechEU)

Initial BraveTechEU defence innovation call cycle for Ukrainian and EU startups and SMEs. The PDF references grants up to EUR 200,000 and focus areas such as drones, EW, missiles, AI/ML, navigation and software.

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

Expected Impact: Projects are expected to deliver results aligned with the expected results set out below and to evidence their contribution through dedicated KPIs defined in the proposal. Expected results include: • tangible capacity increases in EU-based production of the targeted energetic components, with demonstrated contribution to competitiveness ; • improved resilience & geographical distribution of supply, reducing single points of failure for energetic materials and related industrial services; • strengthened availability and security of supply for priority defence product production lines, commensurate with identified risks and exposure to the risk of materialisation of conventional military threats; • and measurable lead-time reductions , establishment or availability of reserved capacity where applicable, and workforce trained to operate and sustain the reinforced production lines. Proposals shall define, baseline and track KPIs such as added throughput (e.g., tonnes/month of propellant powder or explosives; units/month of propulsion systems/warheads; filling lines output), time-to-rate, lead-time reduction, yield/quality improvements, qualified output delivered, reserved capacity parameters, numbers of staff trained, and indicators evidencing risk mitigation (e.g., raw-material securing measures, safety performance and compliance readiness, supply-chain robustness and obsolescence management outcomes). Where implemented, the physical and cyber protection WP is expected to deliver measurable improvements in site and production security, evidenced through threat assessment protected sites to support the security measures and KPIs (e.g., coverage of protected areas/assets, detection/alert performance, response readiness, critical vulnerabilities mitigated). Those KPIs shall be linked to the project’s overall risk register and show how risk exposure is reduced and how production continuity is improved, thereby limiting the likelihood and/or impact of incidents that could delay production ramp-up or affect output and delivery reliability (including, where relevant, the availability of reserved capacity and the achievement of workforce-related milestones). Objective: The objective of this call is to reinforce the EU industrial production capacity of defence products, including their components and corresponding raw materials. This topic aims to strengthen the competitiveness, responsiveness and ability of the EDTIB to reinforce EU industrial production capacity for energetic components (including their components and corresponding raw materials insofar as they are intended or used wholly for the production of defence products) that constitute critical bottlenecks for key defence product across land, air, naval and underwater domains: • rockets, aerial bombs, mines and loitering munition; • missiles; • tank, artillery and counter-unmanned systems (UxS) ammunition; • small-calibre cartridges (including ammunition and devices for dismounted soldiers). Actions shall be aligned with the objectives, scope and priorities of this call topic and shall contribute to the competitiveness of the EU defence technological and industrial base by securing specific production capacity for: • propellant powder (including nitrocellulose, single, double & triple-base powder, and modular charge); • explosives (including nitroglycerine, TNT, RDX, HMX, PETN, NTO, primers/fuses); • propulsion systems ; • warheads and electronic fuze ; • filling plants ; • and access to relevant raw materials . As industrial reinforcement actions, proposals shall integrate a robust approach to managing key risks (including safety, supply-chain and obsolescence, life-cycle and maintainability, and industrialisation) and shall, where relevant, take into account the necessity to include provisions allowing to upgrade quickly the targeted defence product based on the evolving lessons identified from the battlefield. Applicants may include an optional dedicated Work Package (WP) implementing a supporting action as defined in Article 13(d) of Regulation (EU) 2025/2643, to reinforce the physical and cyber protection of the production capacity targeted by the action, including on security against UxS/drone-enabled threats . The objective is to reduce the risk of disruption, sabotage or interference affecting production continuity, ramp-up and deliveries, complementing the proposal’s overall risk-management approach (notably safety, supply-chain and obsolescence, industrialisation/integration, and maintainability risks) and supporting the achievement of the industrial KPIs set for lead time and capacity. Scope: Proposals shall implement Industrial Reinforcement Actions, in line with Regulation (EU) SENSITIVE EN 11 EN 2025/2643, targeting the specific defence product and production capacities listed under “Objectives pursued”. Proposals shall demonstrate the criticality of the targeted defence product and associated production capacity , and justify the urgency of reinforcing availability and security of supply through the proposed industrial reinforcement activities. Proposals shall set out an industrial reinforcement plan supported by a risk-management approach that addresses the identified risks and the measures to ensure availability and security of supply, including risks specific to energetic materials (e.g. process safety, hazardous materials handling, permits, and upstream precursor availability). Activities linked to the physical and cyber protection WP may include expert threat assessment, procurement, installation and initial integration of proportionate solutions as well as efforts to connect to a national or European security system for: (i) counter-UxS site protection measures (detection/alerting and other authorised protective measures), and/or (ii) cyber protection measures of production-relevant networks and systems (including monitoring, hardening and secure access) which includes obtaining the European Union Cybersecurity Certification (EUCC) schemes for products used in the IRA activity, as well as acceptance testing and operational set-up necessary for effective deployment, in order to work towards compliance with the NIS2 Directive, where applicable, and alignment with standards such as ISO/IEC 27001 and IEC 62443. Where implemented, the physical and cyber protection WP shall clearly specify the protected assets, threat assessment for the to be protected sites to support the security measures, interfaces with production continuity and KPIs, explain how these measures reduce risks that could otherwise impact the delivery of the proposal’s core industrial results (e.g., lead-time reduction, throughput/capacity increase, reserved capacity where applicable, and workforce readiness) and present efforts to link the respective site’s security system with a national and/or European security system. Actions shall not have started before 5 March 2024 and shall not have been completed before the signature of the Grant Agreement (GA). The duration and the starting date of the action will be set out in the GA. The action shall have an indicative duration of three to five years; in any event, it shall be completed no later than 31 December 2033. Budget The Commission is considering a total budget of EUR 166 400 000 for the call for proposals. The maximum EU contribution per funded project will not exceed EUR 30 000 000 allowing several proposals to be funded. The Commission is considering supporting specifically any optional work packages dedicated to the reinforcement of the physical and cyber protection of the industrial capacity targeted by the action, with a maximum EU contribution of EUR 500 000 per funded project. Depending on the number and quality of received proposals and the requested Union financial contributions, the Commission may decide to reallocate budget between calls. Minimum financial size of the actions The minimum financial size of the action to be eligible for fu

Expected Impact: Projects are expected to deliver results aligned with the expected results set out in this call topic and to evidence their contribution through dedicated KPIs defined in the proposal. Expected results include: • demonstrable and sustainable increase in production capacity for the targeted ammunition, bombs and missiles production lines, enabled by operational joint filling plants and production lines; • measurable reduction of production lead time from order/production decision to delivery in UA; • improved timely availability and supply of defence products for UA, including increased delivery reliability and readiness of production lines; • effective cross-border cooperation between UA and EU that enables production ramp-up, qualification, integration and sustainment. Proposals shall define, baseline and track KPIs such as: filling throughput (e.g., units/month or tonnes/month as applicable), time-to-rate, lead-time reduction, line availability/uptime, acceptance/qualification output, qualified output delivered in UA, workforce trained where relevant, and indicators evidencing risk mitigation (e.g., safety performance and compliance readiness, supply robustness and maintainability readiness). Objective: This topic aims to reinforce missiles, ammunition and bombs readiness and their sovereign component base by enabling the rapid industrial reinforcement of Member States and Ukraine for key defence product (including subcomponents) production lines: • air defence (conventional and non-conventional) missiles and ammunition (including counter-UxS systems); • deep strike capabilities (including long-range missiles); • rockets, (smart) bombs and loitering munitions. Actions shall be aligned with the objectives, scope and priorities of this call topic, and implemented as Ira under USI in line with Regulation (EU) 2025/2643. Proposals are expected to ensure timely availability and supply of defence products for Ukraine , by scaling production capacity and industrial readiness for cross-border (EU-UA) industrial set-up in the form of: • joint filling plants and production lines; • reinforcement of specific production capacity and enablement capacity (including integration and validation/testing of alternative control and navigation approaches, production/integration of sensing and effector modules, multi-sensor fusion integration, and dedicated assembly/test capacity/production planning to sustain high monthly volumes, as applicable); • scale-up of UA systems and ready-to-use production lines (including rapid-cycle modular assembly and re-configuration capacity to adapt to fast-evolving threats and mission profiles); • MaaS (Manufacturing as a Service) (including rapid small-batch production, fast line changeover, and scalable assembly/test capacity for attritable UxS output); • dual-use heavy industry conversion options for defence surge (including surge assembly/integration, test, packaging, and supporting infrastructure as applicable). Applicants may include an optional dedicated Work Package (WP) implementing a supporting action as defined in Article 13(d) of Regulation (EU) 2025/2643, to reinforce the physical and cyber protection of the production capacity targeted by the action, including on security against UxS/drone-enabled threats. The objective is to reduce the risk of disruption, sabotage or interference affecting production continuity, ramp-up and deliveries, complementing the proposal’s overall risk-management approach (notably safety, supply-chain and obsolescence, industrialisation/integration, and maintainability risks) and supporting the achievement of the industrial KPIs set for lead time and capacity. Scope: Proposals shall implement Industrial Reinforcement Actions, in line with Regulation (EU) 2025/2643, targeting the specific defence product and production capacities listed under “Objectives pursued”. Proposals shall demonstrate the criticality of the targeted defence product (including subcomponents) and justify the urgency of reinforcing their availability and security of supply through the proposed industrial reinforcement activities. Proposals shall include a risk-management approach commensurate with industrial ramp-up in UA (including safety and regulatory compliance for energetic materials and filling activities, supply-chain and obsolescence, industrialisation/integration, maintainability, and operational constraints), and explain how risks are mitigated to ensure timely availability and supply of defence products in UA. Activities linked to the physical and cyber protection WP may include expert threat assessment, procurement, installation and initial integration of proportionate solutions as well as efforts to connect to a national or European security system for: (i) counter-UxS site protection measures (detection/alerting and other authorised protective measures), and/or (ii) cyber protection measures of production-relevant networks and systems (including monitoring, hardening and secure access) which includes obtaining the European Union Cybersecurity Certification (EUCC) schemes for products used in the IRA activity, as well as acceptance testing and operational set-up necessary for effective deployment, in order to work towards compliance with the NIS2 Directive, where applicable, and alignment with standards such as ISO/IEC 27001 and IEC 62443. Actions shall not have started before 5 March 2024 and shall not have been completed before the signature of the Grant Agreement (GA). The duration and the starting date of the action will be set out in the GA. The action shall have an indicative duration of three to five years; in any event, it shall be completed no later than 31 December 2033. Budget The Commission is considering a total budget of EUR 180 000 000 for the call for proposals. The maximum EU contribution per funded project will not exceed EUR 30 000 000 allowing several proposals to be funded. Depending on the number and quality of received proposals and the requested Union financial contributions, the Commission may decide to reallocate budget between calls. The Commission is considering supporting specifically any optional work packages dedicated to the reinforcement of the physical and cyber protection of the industrial capacity targeted by the action, with a maximum EU contribution of EUR 500 000 per funded project. Minimum financial size of the actions The minimum financial size of the action to be eligible for funding is EUR 2 000 000. Maximum number of legal entities forming part of the consortium The number of legal entities forming part of the consortium shall not exceed 15 as per Article 34(3)(c) of the Regulation (EU) 2025/2643.

Impacto esperado: Espera-se que os SEAP apoiados aluguem espaço de escritório, recrutem pessoal e iniciem e mantenham as operações por um período de pelo menos um ano. Objectivo: O presente convite visa prestar apoio ao funcionamento dos PAES estabelecidos, nomeadamente para efeitos de criação, gestão e manutenção de reservas de prontidão industrial no domínio da defesa. Âmbito de aplicação: As propostas devem ter por objetivo apoiar os PAES estabelecidos nas suas operações iniciais por um período de, pelo menos, um ano. Orçamento A Comissão está a ponderar um orçamento total de 10 000 000 EUR para o convite à apresentação de propostas. A contribuição máxima da UE por projeto financiado não excederá 2 000 00 0 EUR, permitindo o financiamento de várias propostas. Em função do número e da qualidade das propostas recebidas e das contribuições financeiras da União solicitadas, a Comissão pode decidir reafetar o orçamento entre convites à apresentação de propostas.

Expected Impact: The results of the activities should contribute to support common procurement, leading to strengthening the cooperation among Member States and associated countries, as well as to greater interoperability. Furthermore, they should contribute to the building up of strategic stockpile of ammunition, missiles, including their components, or to the increase of existing ones, as well as to the development of low-cost unmanned systems for guided strikes adapted to modern warfare scenarios. Objective: This topic aims at actions supporting the common procurement of ammunition (including small arms ammunition, tank and anti-tank ammunitions, artillery ammunition, guided ammunitions), missiles (all types of missiles) and other explosive weapons (including hand grenade, land and naval mines, mortar, rockets, unmanned systems (aerial, ground, surface and underwater vehicles controlled remotely or operating autonomously using advanced software and sensors) able to perform guided strikes (including attack or kamikaze drones, FPV loitering munitions), torpedoes), or parts thereof, contributing to replenishment of stocks. Scope: Common procurement actions under this topic shall consist of activities related to the cooperation of legal entities in the procurement of ammunition, missiles, and other explosive weapons, at any point in the life cycle of such defence products, including for the purpose of establishing, managing and maintaining defence industrial readiness pools. Where relevant (e.g. unmanned systems for guided strikes), procurement contracts are expected to include provisions allowing to rapidly upgrade the procured systems based on evolving lessons identified from the battlefield. To achieve the expected impact, the estimated value of a common procurement proposed for actions under this topic shall be of at least EUR 20 000 000 aiming to commonly procure defence products to fill the capability gaps and reinforce cooperation among Member States and associated countries. The procurement shall be based on a binding agreement to be signed by the participating Member States and associated countries with a procurement agent appointed by those Member States and associated countries. Such procurement agent may be contracting authorities of Member States or associated countries, the European Defence Agency (EDA), a Structure for European Armament Programme (SEAP) or other international organisation, including the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR) or the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA). The cooperation shall be newly created in the context of the application to the call topic or based on an existing framework, provided that the activities under such cooperation framework did not start before 5 March 2024 and have not been completed before the signature of the grant agreement. Eligible actions are common procurement of systems, parts thereof or variants of systems. The common procurement can be organised as a framework contract. Actions shall be completed no later than 31 December 2033.

Expected Impact: The results of the activities should contribute to support common procurement, leading to strengthening the cooperation among Member States and associated countries, as well as to greater interoperability. Furthermore, they should contribute to the replenishment of depleted stockpiles of counter-drone systems, to the increase of existing stockpiles or to establishment of defence industrial readiness pool, as well as to the development and reinforcement of counter-drone solutions as drones are being increasingly perceived as a pressing threat. Objective: This topic aims at actions supporting the common procurement of integrated systems (e.g. VSHORAD or SHORAD) or parts thereof (including sensors, kinetic or non-kinetic effectors - including direct energy weapons -, command and control solutions) to counter unmanned aerial, ground, surface or underwater vehicles, including those controlled remotely or operating autonomously using advanced software and sensors. Scope: Common procurement actions under this topic shall consist of activities related to the cooperation of legal entities in the procurement of integrated counter-drone systems or parts thereof, at any point in the life cycle of such defence products, including for the purpose of establishing, managing and maintaining defence industrial readiness pools. Procurements contracts are expected to include provisions allowing to upgrade quickly the counter-drone systems based on the evolving lessons identified from the battlefield. To achieve the expected impact, the estimated value of a common procurement proposed for actions under this topic shall be at least EUR 20 000 000 aiming to commonly procure defence products to fill the capability gaps and reinforce cooperation among Member States and associated countries. The procurement shall be based on a binding agreement to be signed by the participating Member States and associated countries with a procurement agent appointed by those Member States and associated countries. Such procurement agent may be contracting authorities of Member States or associated countries, the European Defence Agency (EDA), a Structure for European Armament Programme (SEAP) or other international organisation, including the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR) or the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA). The cooperation shall be newly created in the context of the application to the call topic or based on an existing SENSITIVE EN 4 EN framework, provided that the activities under such cooperation framework did not start before 5 March 2024 and have not been completed before the signature of the grant agreement. Eligible actions are common procurement of systems, parts thereof or variants of those. The common procurement can be organised as a framework contract. Actions shall be completed no later than 31 December 2033.

Expected Impact: The results of the activities should contribute to support common procurement, leading to strengthening the cooperation among Member States and associated countries, as well as to greater interoperability. Furthermore, they should contribute to the development and reinforcement of air and missile defence capabilities of the participants. Objective: This topic aims at actions supporting the common procurement of integrated, multilayered, air and missile defence, or parts thereof including sensors (e.g. radars), kinetic or non-kinetic effectors, command and control, that protects against the full spectrum of air threats (cruise missiles, ballistic and hypersonic missiles, aircraft and UAS) from medium to long range, high and terminal high altitude, including endo-atmospheric interceptor. This topic does not cover very short to short range air defence systems against low altitude UAS (covered by call topic EDIP-P-2026-FNLC-CPA-CDS). Scope: Common procurement actions under this topic shall consist of activities related to the cooperation of legal entities in the procurement of air and missile defence systems, or parts thereof, at any point in the life cycle of such defence products, including for the purpose of establishing, managing and maintaining defence industrial readiness pools. To achieve the expected impact, the estimated value of a common procurement proposed for actions under this topic should be at least EUR 80 000 000 aiming to commonly procure defence products to fill the capability gaps and reinforce cooperation among Member States and associated countries. The procurement shall be based on a binding agreement to be signed by the participating Member States and associated countries with a procurement agent appointed by those Member States and associated countries. Such procurement agent may be contracting authorities of Member States or associated countries, the European Defence Agency (EDA), a Structure for European Armament Programme (SEAP) or other international organisation, including the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR) or the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (such as OCCAR or NSPA). The cooperation shall be newly created in the context of the application to the call topic or based on an existing framework, provided that the activities under such cooperation framework did not start before 5 March 2024 and have not been completed before the signature of the grant agreement. Eligible actions are common procurement of systems, parts thereof or variants of those. The common procurement can be organised as a framework contract. Actions shall be completed no later than 31 December 2033.

Expected Impact: The results of the activities should contribute to support common procurement, leading to strengthening the cooperation among Member States and associated countries, as well as to greater interoperability. Furthermore, they should contribute to should contribute to the development and reinforcement of C5ISR and space-related products of the participants. Objective: The results of the activities should contribute to support common procurement, leading to strengthening the cooperation among Member States and associated countries, as well as to greater interoperability. Furthermore, they should contribute to the development and the procurement of common platforms and subsystems. Scope: Common procurement actions under this topic shall consist of activities related to the cooperation of legal entities in the procurement of C5ISR or other space-related defence products and systems, at any point in the life cycle of such defence products, including for the purpose of establishing, managing and maintaining defence industrial readiness pools. To achieve the expected impact, the estimated value of a common procurement proposed for actions under this topic shall be at least EUR 20 000 000 aiming to commonly procure defence products to fill the capability gaps and reinforce cooperation among Member States and associated countries. The procurement shall be based on a binding agreement to be signed by the participating Member States and associated countries with a procurement agent appointed by those Member States and associated countries. Such procurement agent may be contracting authorities of Member States or associated countries, the European Defence Agency (EDA), a Structure for European Armament Programme (SEAP) or other international organisation, including the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR) or the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA). The cooperation shall be newly created in the context of the application to the call topic or based on an existing framework, provided that the activities under such cooperation framework did not start before 5 March 2024 and have not been completed before the signature of the grant agreement. Eligible actions are common procurement of systems or variants of systems. The common procurement can be organised as a framework contract. Actions shall be completed no later than 31 December 2033.

Expected Impact: The results of the activities should contribute to support common procurement, leading to strengthening the cooperation among Member States and associated countries, as well as to greater interoperability. Furthermore, they should contribute to the development and the procurement of common platforms and subsystems. Objective: This topic aims to support the common procurement of a wide range of capabilities or systems of ground and naval platforms or parts thereof, including but not limited to artillery systems, (counter)-mobility platforms, tanks or other armoured vehicles, support vehicles, combat platforms, soldier systems, surface and underwater naval platforms or their sub-systems. Scope: Common procurement actions under this topic shall consist of activities related to the cooperation of legal entities in the procurement of ground, naval platforms and systems, at any point in the life cycle of such defence products, including for the purpose of establishing, managing and maintaining defence industrial readiness pools. To achieve the expected impact, the estimated value of a common procurement proposed for actions under this topic shall be at least EUR 80 000 000 aiming to commonly procure defence products to fill the capability gaps and reinforce cooperation among Member States and associated countries. The procurement shall be based on a binding agreement to be signed by the participating Member States and associated countries with a procurement agent appointed by those Member States and associated countries. Such procurement agent may be contracting authorities of Member States or associated countries, the European Defence Agency (EDA), a Structure for European Armament Programme (SEAP) or other international organisation, including the Organisation for Joint Armament Co-operation (OCCAR) or the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA). The cooperation shall be newly created in the context of the application to the call topic or based on an existing framework, provided that the activities under such cooperation framework did not start before 5 March 2024 and have not been completed before the signature of the grant agreement. Eligible actions are common procurement of systems or variants of systems. The common procurement can be organised as a framework contract. Actions shall be completed no later than 31 December 2033.

Expected Impact: Projects are expected to deliver results aligned with the expected results set out in this call topic and to evidence their contribution through dedicated KPIs defined in the proposal. Expected results include: • tangible capacity increases in EU-based production of the targeted electronic components, with demonstrated contribution to competitiveness ; • improved resilience & geographical distribution of supply, reducing single points of failure; • strengthened availability and security of supply for priority defence product production lines, commensurate with identified risks and exposure to the risk of • materialisation of conventional military threats; • and measurable lead-time reductions, establishment or availability of reserved capacity where applicable, and workforce trained to operate and sustain the reinforced production lines. Proposals shall define, baseline and track KPIs such as added throughput (units/month), time-to-rate, lead-time reduction, yield/quality improvements, qualified output delivered, reserved capacity parameters, and numbers of staff trained, alongside indicators evidencing risk mitigation (e.g., supply-chain robustness and obsolescence management outcomes). Where implemented, the physical and cyber protection W P is expected to deliver measurable improvements in site and production security, evidenced through threat assessment protected sites to support the security measures and KPIs (e.g., coverage of protected areas/assets, detection/alert performance, response readiness, critical vulnerabilities mitigated). Those KPIs shall be linked to the project’s overall risk register and show how risk exposure is reduced and how production continuity is improved, thereby limiting the likelihood and/or impact of incidents that could delay production ramp-up or affect output and delivery reliability (including, where relevant, the availability of reserved capacity and the achievement of workforce-related milestones). Objective: This topic aims to strengthen the competitiveness, responsiveness and ability of the EDTIB to reinforce EU industrial production capacity for key electronic components (including their components and corresponding raw materials insofar as they are intended or used wholly for the production of defence products) that constitute critical bottlenecks for key defence product, across land, air, naval and underwater domains: • (swarming) UxSs and loitering munitions (including FPV variants, interceptor drones, and AI-enabled/autonomy-enabled UxS integration lines); • (counter-)UxS systems (including EW-resilient defeat concepts and counter-interceptor solutions); • missile (defence) systems (including missile seekers / terminal sensing sub-systems); • precision-guided munition (PGM); • mobile communication nodes and C2 systems (including UxS datalinks/video transmission, relay/repeater nodes, underwater communication systems, cryptosystems and LTE/5G-enabled variants where relevant); • and C4ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance) including Electronic Warfare (EW, including secure tactical networking, trusted/anti-tamper enabled C4ISR/EW equipment), underwater ISR/ASW, sonar, radars, EO sensors, wideband multifunction RF systems and all associated processing . Actions shall be aligned with the objectives, scope and priorities of this call topic and shall contribute to the competitiveness of the EU defence technological and industrial base by securing specific production capacity for: • guidance electronics (including flight controller stacks, inertial measurement unit (IMUs), Galileo PRS receiver and sensor-fusion electronics); • propulsion electronics (including electronic speed controllers (ESCs), motor control units, power distribution boards (PDBs), battery management system (BMS) electronics and propulsion power-conditioning modules); • RF and laser modules (including RF front-end building blocks, T/R modules where applicable, datalink modules/chipsets and enabling RF/EO components like high-speed mixed-signal components and precision timing and frequency reference components, laser driver/control electronics, and laser transmit/receive sub-modules); • multispectral cameras (including thermal/EO sensing modules, relevant dependencies like video transmission modules where applicable and low observable underwater sensors); • avionics (including EW systems, edge compute integration where relevant to autonomy-enabled variants); • PCBs and IC substrates (including HDI/secure PCBs, high-frequency laminates/materials and related processing capacity, trusted interconnect, and substrate assembly); • Lithium-ion polymer batteries, power electronics and critical semiconductor building blocks (including electronic speed controllers (ESCs), propulsion control power electronics, FPGAs/SoCs/ASICs and secure processing components, and GaN/GaAs/SiGe/RF-CMOS/high power laser diodes supply-chain elements). As industrial reinforcement actions, proposals shall integrate a robust approach to managing key risks (including safety, supply-chain and obsolescence, life-cycle and maintainability, and industrialisation) and shall, where relevant, take into account the necessity to include provisions allowing to upgrade quickly the targeted defence product based on the evolving lessons identified from the battlefield. Applicants may include an optional dedicated WP implementing a supporting action as defined in Article 13(d) of Regulation (EU) 2025/2643, to reinforce the physical and cyber protection of the production capacity targeted by the action, including on security against UxS/drone-enabled threats . The objective is to reduce the risk of disruption, sabotage or interference affecting production continuity, ramp-up and deliveries, complementing the proposal’s overall risk-management approach (notably safety, supply-chain and obsolescence, industrialisation/integration, and maintainability risks) and supporting the achievement of the industrial KPIs set for lead time and capacity. Scope: Proposals shall implement Industrial Reinforcement Actions, in line with Regulation (EU) 2025/2643, targeting the specific defence product production capacities listed under “Objectives pursued”. Proposals shall demonstrate the c riticality of the targeted defence and associated production capacity , and justify the urgency of reinforcing availability and security of supply through the proposed industrial reinforcement activities. Proposals shall set out an industrial reinforcement plan supported by a r isk-management approach that addresses the identified risks and the measures to ensure availability and security of supply. Activities linked to the physical and cyber protection WP may include expert threat assessment, procurement, installation and initial integration of proportionate solutions as well as efforts to connect to a national or European security system for: (i) counter-UxS site protection measures (detection/alerting and other authorised protective measures), and/or (ii) cyber protection measures of production-relevant networks and systems (including monitoring, hardening and secure access) which includes obtaining the European Union Cybersecurity Certification (EUCC) schemes for products used in the IRA activity, as well as acceptance testing and operational set-up necessary for effective deployment, in order to work towards compliance with the NIS2 Directive, where applicable, and alignment with standards such as ISO/IEC 27001 and IEC 62443. Where implemented, the physical and cyber protection WP shall clearly specify the protected assets, threat assessment for the to be protected sites to support the security measures, interfaces with production continuity and KPIs, explain how these measures reduce risks that could otherwise impact the delivery of the proposal’s core industrial results (e.g., lead-time reduction, throughput/capacity increase, reserved capac

Expected Impact: Projects are expected to deliver results aligned with the expected results set out in this call topic and to evidence their contribution through dedicated KPIs defined in the proposal. Expected results include: • demonstrable and sustainable increase in production capacity in UA for the targeted (counter-)UxS-related production lines; • measurable reduction of production lead time from order/production decision to delivery in UA; • improved t imely availability and supply of defence products in UA , including increased delivery reliability and readiness of production lines; • effective cross-border cooperation between UA and EU that enables production ramp-up, integration, qualification and sustainment; • strengthened Ukrainian industrial base, and, where applicable, operationalised MaaS and dual-use heavy industry conversion pathways for surge. Proposals shall define, baseline and track KPIs such as: production output (units/month), time-to-rate, lead-time reduction, line availability/uptime, qualified output delivered in UA, MaaS throughput, surge conversion readiness indicators, and workforce trained where relevant—alongside risk-related indicators demonstrating supply robustness and maintainability readiness. Objective: This topic aims to reinforce (counter-)UxSs readiness and a sovereign UxSs component base by enabling the rapid industrial reinforcement of Member States and Ukraine for key defence product (including subcomponents) production lines: • (swarming) UxSs (including FPV variants, modular payload configurations, relay/repeater variants, and AI-enabled/autonomy-enabled UxS integration where relevant) and (swarming) UxS interceptor variants (including intercept solutions to protect critical nodes and logistics routes); • EW-resilient UxS variants (including fibre-optic controlled UxS, and other GNSS- /RF-denied operational profiles); • counter-UxSs and EW(-resilient) supporting systems (including counter-UxSs EW function supporting detection/characterisation, jamming/spoofing and spectrum management for friendly UxS operations, terminal navigation, optronic and radar-guided systems). Actions shall be aligned with the objectives, scope and priorities of this call topic, and implemented as IRA under USI in line with Regulation (EU) 2025/2643. Proposals are expected to ensure timely availability and supply of defence products in Ukraine, by scaling production capacity and industrial readiness for cross-border (EU-UA) industrial set-up in the form of: • joint production lines; • reinforcement of specific production capacity and enablement capacity (including integration and validation/testing of alternative control and navigation approaches, production/service and maintenance capability/integration of sensing and effector modules, multi-sensor fusion integration, and dedicated assembly/test capacity/production planning to sustain high monthly volumes, as applicable); • scale-up of UA systems and ready-to-use production lines (including rapid-cycle modular assembly and re-configuration capacity to adapt to fast-evolving threats and mission profiles); • MaaS (Manufacturing as a Service) (including rapid small-batch production, fast line changeover, and scalable assembly/test capacity for attritable UxS output); • dual-use heavy industry conversion options for defence surge (including surge assembly/integration, test, packaging, and supporting infrastructure as applicable). Applicants may include an optional dedicated Work Package (WP) implementing a supporting action as defined in Article 13(d) of Regulation (EU) 2025/2643, to r einforce the physical and cyber protection of the production capacity targeted by the action, including on security against UxS/drone-enabled threats . The objective is to reduce the risk of disruption, sabotage or interference affecting production continuity, ramp-up and deliveries, complementing the proposal’s overall risk-management approach (notably safety, supply-chain and obsolescence, industrialisation/integration, and maintainability risks) and supporting the achievement of the industrial KPIs set for lead time and capacity. Scope: Proposals shall implement Industrial Reinforcement Actions, in line with Regulation (EU) 2025/2643, targeting the specific defence product and production capacities listed under “Objectives pursued”. Proposals shall demonstrate the criticality of the targeted defence product (including subcomponents) and justify the urgency of reinforcing their availability and security of supply through the proposed industrial reinforcement activities. Proposals shall include a risk-management approach commensurate with industrial ramp-up in UA (including safety, supply-chain and obsolescence, industrialisation/integration, maintainability, and operational constraints), explain how risks are mitigated to ensure timely availability and supply of defence products in UA, and shall, where relevant include provisions allowing to upgrade quickly the targeted (counter-)UxS based on the evolving lessons identified from the battlefield. Activities linked to the physical and cyber protection WP may include expert threat assessment, procurement, installation and initial integration of proportionate solutions as well as efforts to connect to a national or European security system for: (i) counter-UxS site protection measures (detection/alerting and other authorised protective measures), and/or (ii) cyber protection measures of production-relevant networks and systems (including monitoring, hardening and secure access) which includes obtaining the European Union Cybersecurity Certification (EUCC) schemes for products used in the IRA activity, as well as acceptance testing and operational set-up necessary for effective deployment, in order to work towards compliance with the NIS2 Directive, where applicable, and alignment with standards such as ISO/IEC 27001 and IEC 62443. Actions shall not have started before 5 March 2024 and shall not have been completed before the signature of the Grant Agreement (GA). The duration and the starting date of the action will be set out in the GA. The action shall have an indicative duration of three to five years; in any event, it shall be completed no later than 31 December 2033. Budget The Commission is considering a total budget of EUR 80 000 000 for the call for proposals. The maximum EU contribution per funded project will not exceed EUR 10 000 000 allowing several proposals to be funded. Depending on the number and quality of received proposals and the requested Union financial contributions, the Commission may decide to reallocate budget between calls. The Commission is considering supporting specifically any optional work packages dedicated to the reinforcement of the physical and cyber protection of the industrial capacity targeted by the action, with a maximum EU contribution of EUR 200 000 per funded project. Minimum financial size of the actions The minimum financial size of the action to be eligible for funding is EUR 2 000 000. Maximum number of legal entities forming part of the consortium The number of legal entities forming part of the consortium shall not exceed 15 as per Article 34(3)(c) of the Regulation (EU) 2025/2643.

Expected Impact: Projects are expected to deliver results aligned with the expected results set out in this call topic and to evidence their contribution through dedicated KPIs defined in the proposal. Expected results include: • tangible capacity increases in EU-based production enabling the ramp-up of the targeted platforms or end-products, with demonstrated contribution to competitiveness ; • improved resilience & geographical distribution of supply and industrial capability, reducing single points of failure across forging/machining, key sub-systems, composites and assembly/integration; • strengthened availability and security of supply of the targeted platforms or end-products with identified risks and exposure to the risk of materialisation of conventional military threats; • and measurable lead-time reductions , establishment or availability of reserved capacity where applicable, and workforce traine d to operate and sustain the reinforced production lines (including, where relevant, MaaS and dual-use conversion pathways). Proposals shall define, baseline and track KPIs such as added throughput (e.g., units/month of platforms/end-products or critical sub-systems; tonnes/month or batches for forging/machining/composites where relevant), time-to-rate, lead-time reduction, yield/quality improvements, qualified output delivered, reserved capacity parameters, numbers of staff trained, and indicators evidencing risk mitigation (e.g., supply-chain robustness, integration maturity, maintainability readiness and obsolescence management outcomes). Where implemented, the physical and cyber protection WP is expected to deliver measurable improvements in site and production security, evidenced through threat assessment protected sites to support the security measures and KPIs (e.g., coverage of protected areas/assets, detection/alert performance, response readiness, critical vulnerabilities mitigated). Those KPIs shall be linked to the project’s overall risk register and show how risk exposure is reduced and how production continuity is improved, thereby limiting the likelihood and/or impact of incidents that could delay production ramp-up or affect output and delivery reliability (including, where relevant, the availability of reserved capacity and the achievement of workforce-related milestones) Objective: This topic aims to strengthen the competitiveness, responsiveness and ability of the EDTIB to reinforce EU industrial production capacity for key platforms and end-products, across land, air, naval and underwater domains: • artillery systems; • armoured vehicles (including special purpose and support vehicles); • fixed and rotary wing aircraft; • (counter-)UxS systems (including loitering munition); • (anti-)PGM systems (including (anti-)missile systems); • radars; • mine warfare systems (including minelaying and mine countermeasures in both naval and land domains); • surface and underwater naval platforms (including torpedoes); • firearms; • satellite payloads and terminals. Actions shall be aligned with the objectives, scope and priorities of this call topic and shall contribute to the competitiveness of the EU defence technological and industrial base by securing specific production capacity for: • forging/machining; • key sub-systems; • composites materials; • assembly/integration of end products; • MaaS (Manufacturing as a Service); • dual-use (heavy) industry conversion options for defence surge. As industrial reinforcement actions, proposals shall integrate a robust approach to managing key risks (including safety, supply-chain and obsolescence, life-cycle and maintainability, and industrialisation), shall demonstrate the criticality of reinforcing the availability and security of supply for the specific targeted platforms or end-products and shall, where relevant, take into account the necessity to include provisions allowing to upgrade quickly the targeted platforms or end-products based on the evolving lessons identified from the battlefield. Applicants may include an optional dedicated WP implementing a supporting action as defined in Article 13(d) of Regulation (EU) 2025/2643, to reinforce the physical and cyber protection of the production capacity targeted by the action, including on security against UxS/drone-enabled threats . The objective is to reduce the risk of disruption, sabotage or interference affecting production continuity, ramp-up and deliveries, complementing the proposal’s overall risk-management approach (notably safety, supply-chain and obsolescence, industrialisation/integration, and maintainability risks) and supporting the achievement of the industrial KPIs set for lead time and capacity. Scope: Proposals shall implement Industrial Reinforcement Actions, in line with Regulation (EU) 2025/2643, targeting the specific defence product and production capacities listed under “Objectives pursued”. Proposals shall demonstrate the criticality of the targeted platforms or end-product s and justify the urgency of reinforcing their availability and security of supply through the proposed industrial reinforcement activities. Proposals shall set out an industrial reinforcement plan supported by a risk-management approach that addresses the identified risks and the measures to ensure availability and security of supply, including industrialisation and integration risks relevant to platform-level ramp-up (e.g., qualification, integration bottlenecks, maintainability, and critical sub-system dependencies). Activities linked to the physical and cyber protection WP may include expert threat assessment, procurement, installation and initial integration of proportionate solutions as well as efforts to connect to a national or European security system for: (i) counter-UxS site protection measures (detection/alerting and other authorised protective measures), and/or (ii) cyber protection measures of production-relevant networks and systems (including monitoring, hardening and secure access) which includes obtaining the European Union Cybersecurity Certification (EUCC) schemes for products used in the IRA activity, as well as acceptance testing and operational set-up necessary for effective deployment, in order to work towards compliance with the NIS2 Directive, where applicable, and alignment with standards such as ISO/IEC 27001 and IEC 62443. Where implemented, the physical and cyber protection WP shall clearly specify the protected assets, threat assessment for the to be protected sites to support the security measures, interfaces with production continuity and KPIs, explain how these measures reduce risks that could otherwise impact the delivery of the proposal’s core industrial results (e.g., lead-time reduction, throughput/capacity increase, reserved capacity where applicable, and workforce readiness) and present efforts to link the respective site’s security system with a national and/or European security system. Actions shall not have started before 5 March 2024 and shall not have been completed before the signature of the Grant Agreement (GA). The duration and the starting date of the action will be set out in the GA. The action shall have an indicative duration of three to five years; in any event, it shall be completed no later than 31 December 2033.