Digital Ship and Naval Combat Cloud

Opened

Code: 35975 | Identifier Code: EDF-2025-DA-NAVAL-DSNCC-STEP | Programme name: 3564 | Start submission calls: 18/02/2025 | End submission calls: 16/10/2025

The specific objective is:

• To design, prototype and test a digital platform as an EU-based infrastructure framework (i.e., digital platform) for the integration and common operation of the SOTS.
• To launch the initial design of a multidomain naval combat cloud which could cover the gap between the cloud at naval platform level and the global and joint inter-services combat cloud.

Space-based ISR constellation

Opened

Code: 35973 | Identifier Code: EDF-2025-DA-SPACE-SBISR | Programme name: 3564 | Start submission calls: 18/02/2025 | End submission calls: 16/10/2025

This SBISR call topic aims at contributing to develop an affordable constellation of small satellites, including its ground segments able to handle various types of innovative sensor payloads (optical, night vision, low light infrared, hyperspectral, RADAR, passive RF detection, video) for ISR applications. Such a constellation would complement high-end existing military capabilities while allowing responsive and smart tasking and data collection for near real-time operational and tactical use.

The objective of the topic is to develop European SBISR capabilities through three pillars:

1. An access system called the Federation Layer.
2. The development of a low-latency constellation made of multi-sensor small-satellites.
3. The access to existing national capabilities and capabilities under development.

Land collaborative combat including air-land

Opened

Code: 35970 | Identifier Code: EDF-2025-DA-GROUND-LCC-STEP | Programme name: 3564 | Start submission calls: 18/02/2025 | End submission calls: 16/10/2025

Battlefield transparency is still insufficient due to high complexity warfare in a multi-domain environment with increased battle rhythm, deception, and electronic warfare measures.

Deployments should happen mainly in NATO as well as in EU operations and missions and build upon a networking and service infrastructure compliant with Federated Mission Networking (FMN) spiral specifications. Some of them should need pooling and sharing capabilities. Native interoperability up to the enterprise level between all relevant platforms (e.g., command post, vehicular, dismounted) is thus an increasing operational need.

New technologies such as Artificial Intelligence AI, edge computing, cloud-native architectures, and evolving technology-based manufacturing processes such as Dev(Sec)Ops, allowing for continuous integration and deployment (CI/CD) of IT services and Software Defined Defence (SDD) need to be adopted in the defence sector as key enablers to provide for improved decision and effect making at the relevance of speed. The distribution of commercially available storage and compute power, however, cannot but adapt to the available communication means to interconnect resources scattered throughout the combat arena and the power made available by the platforms (i.e., vehicles, and dismounted soldiers).

Enhanced pilot environment

Opened

Code: 35967 | Identifier Code: EDF-2025-DA-AIR-EPE | Programme name: 3564 | Start submission calls: 18/02/2025 | End submission calls: 16/10/2025

From the point of view of the human-machine relationship, the new generation of military aircraft involved in this collaborative air combat is likely to require a new generation of human-machine relationship that allows ergonomic cooperation between the crew and the machine, effective and safe flight, as well as cooperation with other assets, including unmanned ones. The new technologies would make it possible to gain a tactical advantage by assisting the crew as a real teammate, responding to requests, suggesting tactics and procedures, and adapting interfaces to the pilots’ and/or operators’ status and needs.

Taking into account the new paradigm of human-machine teaming in future collaborative and connected air warfare, this call topic aims to address the following areas:

• New or disruptive Human-Machine Interface (HMI) technologies, such as displays, wearables, vocal dialogue, augmented reality, stereoscopy.
• Pilot status monitoring in relation to the mission and systems status.
• Assisted decision-making support based on advanced techniques like Artificial Intelligence (AI) not excluding other approaches.

Multiband 4D Radar

Opened

Code: 35965 | Identifier Code: EDF-2025-DA-SENS-MB4DR-STEP | Programme name: 3564 | Start submission calls: 18/02/2025 | End submission calls: 16/10/2025

The specific challenge of this topic is to propose a technology integration demonstrator, as the basis for a future multiband 4D radar system that performs simultaneous sea, land, air and space warfare capabilities, and that is suitable to be integrated into a naval platform self/area-defence and combat management system within an air surveillance command and control system.

Regarding radar, it aims to show enhanced detection of conventional air/surface and Tactical Ballistic Missiles (TBM) targets as well as new threats including tactical and strategical hypersonic targets and Low Earth Orbit (LEO) objects. The objective of the final system is to be seamlessly integrated within the combat management system and the fire control loop, being able to provide a multistatic capability (the radar being an illuminator or a receiver) and being multifunctional enabling communications to establish datalinks within collaborative signals/carriers.

Risk, robustness and resilience for autonomous vehicles in military operations

Opened

Code: 35963 | Identifier Code: EDF-2025-LS-RA-SI-CYBER-3RAV-STEP | Programme name: 3564 | Start submission calls: 18/02/2025 | End submission calls: 16/10/2025

Unmanned vehicles (UxV) such as drones, ground vehicles, and surface/underwater vessels are bound to become an integral part of military operations. From a security perspective, this poses various new challenges that need to be properly resolved to deploy these vehicles in real missions and exploit their full potential.

The cyber-physical nature of UxVs affects security in various way. It brings the attack surface of a typical computer (network) into a new context where successful cyber-attacks can have serious consequences in the physical world, while imposing new physical and operational constraints on available and well-established cyber security controls. New attack vectors emerge, and threat models need to be revised.

Designing appropriate security controls for UxVs requires capabilities to identify and evaluate complex trade-offs between data protection, cybersecurity and assured autonomy to best support a mission. Automating parts of the analysis process is necessary to handle the complexity of this task, including processing large amount of data, reducing costs and risks associated with testing physical systems, and producing structured and traceable documentation.

Existing security and safety approaches may be tailored to suit UxVs so that they can be made both secure and robust against well-known deliberate and accidental threats, however new solutions are expected. An additional challenge is whether UxVs can be made resilient in the sense that they can still react in a way that minimises the consequences, and possibly allows for alternative ways to complete the mission autonomously, in the presence of a successful cyber-attack.

Exchange Scheme Third Call for Proposals (oc3-2025-TES-01)

Closed

Code: 35961 | Identifier Code: ENFIELD | Programme name: 20613 | Start submission calls: 15/02/2025 | End submission calls: 14/04/2025

The ENFIELD – Exchange Scheme Open Call aims to attract the top-level researchers to conduct fundamental research in the fields of Green AI, Adaptive AI, Humancentric AI, and Trustworthy AI. These research activities are focused on addressing specific scientific and technological challenges within the domains of energy, healthcare, manufacturing, and space.

EIT Call for Proposals 2025 for a new EIT Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC) on Water, Marine and Maritime Sectors and Ecosystems (‘Water’)

Closed

Code: 35959 | Identifier Code: HORIZON-EIT-2025 | Programme name: 2939 | Sub-program: European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) | Start submission calls: 20/02/2025 | End submission calls: 17/06/2025

The EIT Community is characterised by a focus on results and on achieving long-lasting impact in the way the EU approaches and manages innovation. It is therefore critical that the KIC demonstrates substantial impact at the socioeconomic level over time, and significant progress towards achieving its mission and objectives. The KIC should harvest intellectual, human, material and financial resources to create valuable outputs such as innovation communities, high quality curricula, start-ups, innovative products, services, technologies, through which it develops and sustains value-added business, enhances competencies necessary for innovation and entrepreneurship, and for developing solutions to major societal challenges.

A KIC is expected to create the following impacts:

• technological/economic/innovation impact by influencing the creation and growth of companies, as well as the creation and deployment at scale of new innovative solutions to address the global challenges, creating direct and indirect jobs and mobilising additional public and private investments;
• educational impact by strengthening human capital in research and innovation, enhancing innovative and entrepreneurial skills both at individual and organisational levels and fostering the creation and diffusion of knowledge and innovation openly within society;
• societal impact, including the impact derived by the delivery of systematic solutions within and beyond the EIT Community, also through Cross-KIC activities, by addressing EU policy priorities in the Water, Marine and Maritime Sectors and Ecosystems (‘Water’) through innovative solutions, engagement with citizens and end-users and by strengthening the uptake of innovative solutions in these areas in society.

Participation of Cypriot Enterprises in Meetings Abroad to attract investments – Meet Investors Travel Grants (02/2025)

Opened

Code: 35954 | Identifier Code: MEET INVESTORS/0225 | Programme name: 2941 | Start submission calls: 17/02/2025 | End submission calls: 15/12/2025

The Call is open to innovative enterprises seeking to attract private investment to further develop their enterprise.

Open call for cascade grants of NEBA Alliance

Closed

Code: 35952 | Identifier Code: NEBA Alliance | Programme name: 20613 | Start submission calls: 28/02/2025 | End submission calls: 05/05/2025

The NEBA Alliance is a project consortium funded by the European Commission. The goal of the Alliance is to codesign the foundation of a long-lasting European network of NEB Academy Hubs, which can reach workers and stakeholders across all EU countries and offer meaningful trainings and knowledge transfer and form the NEB Academy. NEB Academy’s long-term mission is to train, upskill, and reskill the construction ecosystem to achieve a carbon neutral building sectorand a beautiful, sustainable, and inclusive transformation of the built environment.

Full-size demonstrators for next generation soldier systems

Opened

Code: 35949 | Identifier Code: EDF-2025-DA-PROTMOB-SS | Programme name: 3564 | Start submission calls: 18/02/2025 | End submission calls: 16/10/2025

This call topic aims to develop the next-generation dismounted soldier system (NGDSS), finding synergies with existing topical EDF projects’ concepts and developments through an updated open-source architecture, as well as NATO efforts and the development of individual and networking capabilities.

Future modular multifunctional land platforms and enabling technologies, including green technologies

Opened

Code: 35947 | Identifier Code: EDF-2025-DA-GROUND-FM2LP | Programme name: 3564 | Start submission calls: 18/02/2025 | End submission calls: 16/10/2025

This topic aims to further develop the technologies required to enhance the performance and effectiveness of armoured land platform systems in high-intensity operations, making them more capable, modular, multifunctional and energy efficient by maximising synergies, standardisation and interoperability of armoured land vehicle families.

Collaborative air combat

Opened

Code: 35945 | Identifier Code: EDF-2025-DA-AIR-CAC | Programme name: 3564 | Start submission calls: 18/02/2025 | End submission calls: 16/10/2025

Today’s EU Member States’ and EDF Associated Countries’ air forces are built on a wide variety of heterogeneous systems. This diversity poses the challenge of interoperability at functional, software and hardware levels. With the plausible introduction of unmanned systems into air combat, future interoperability require much deeper networking, which could be provided by a new generation of tactical data links.

The overall objective is to jointly develop an EU perspective to enable EU Member States and EDF Associated Countries to harmonise, standardise and share processes and tools to efficiently operate, in the medium to long term, joint air combat capabilities combining future air combat systems, manned or unmanned platforms, legacy platforms and their evolution, including sensors and effectors.

Drone-based affordable mass munitions

Opened

Code: 35943 | Identifier Code: EDF-2025-DA-SI-GROUND-DAMM | Programme name: 3564 | Start submission calls: 18/02/2025 | End submission calls: 16/10/2025

As it is related to EUDIS, and in addition to the development activities, this call topic aims to support innovation opportunities and enable small companies to demonstrate innovative technologies relevant to drone-based affordable mass munitions and receive limited acceleration support. To achieve this objective, financial support to third parties (FSTP, i.e., cascade funding) is included as a mandatory part of the grant. This should increase the opportunities for various smaller actors, including those not previously active in the defence sector, to adapt innovative technologies for drone-based affordable mass munitions and to identify potential business opportunities in the defence sector.

Privacy-preserving human-AI dialogue systems – Participation in a technological challenge

Opened

Code: 35941 | Identifier Code: EDF-2025-LS-RA-CHALLENGE-DIGIT-HAIDP-STEP | Programme name: 3564 | Start submission calls: 18/02/2025 | End submission calls: 16/10/2025

The fast progress of generative artificial intelligence (AI), large language models and dialogue systems (chatbots) paves the way towards high impact defence applications in various domains such as intelligence, strategic planning, tactical operations, and life-cycle support. However, these technologies are still prone to errors, leading them in particular to present false or misleading information as fact (hallucinations). They should also be adapted to defence-specific needs. There is therefore a need for further research to develop high-performance human-AI dialogue systems for defence.

Privacy-preserving human-AI dialogue systems – Organisation of a technological challenge

Opened

Code: 35939 | Identifier Code: EDF-2025-LS-RA-CHALLENGE-DIGIT-HAIDO | Programme name: 3564 | Start submission calls: 18/02/2025 | End submission calls: 16/10/2025

Human-AI dialogue systems offer impressive results but are still prone to errors of various types. Moreover, there is no established metric to measure system performances. In order to ensure trustworthiness and steer progress, these systems should be submitted to common tests using shared data and clear metrics and protocols.

The goal of this call topic is thus to set up a testing environment and organise a technological challenge to evaluate the performances of such systems for defence use cases, including their abilities to manage classified information and to justify their answers. The challenge should be open to research teams supported through another call topic (EDF-2025-LS-RA-CHALLENGE-DIGIT-HAIDP) and possibly by other sources of funding. Representative defence users should be involved to contribute to the definition of the use cases and associated data, to test the demonstrators produced by the participating teams, and to provide feedback.

Non-thematic development actions by SMEs

Opened

Code: 35937 | Identifier Code: EDF-2025-LS-DA-SME-NT | Programme name: 3564 | Start submission calls: 18/02/2025 | End submission calls: 16/10/2025

This call topic encourages the driving role of innovative SMEs to turn technology and research results into defence products in a fast and cost-efficient way, possibly by adapting technologies from civil applications or addressing hybrid warfare.

CoARA Boost second cascade funding call

Closed

Code: 35934 | Identifier Code: CoARA Boost | Programme name: 20613 | Start submission calls: 21/02/2025 | End submission calls: 21/04/2025

CoARA Boost’s second cascade funding call facilitates institutional change and targets pilot and exchange-of-knowledge initiatives. It will fund +20 projects facilitating knowledge-exchange, piloting new initiatives within institutions, and enabling lasting institutional change. As such, it encourages and supports research organisations to investigate and test what will efficiently work ‘in real life’.

More specifically, the call aims to:

• Facilitate the exchange, transfer and adaptation of proven good practices and their adoption in research organisations.
• Catalyse the set-up or transformation of research assessment practices and tools in line with the commitments of the Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment.
• Support the development and testing of new and innovative research assessment approaches, models and procedures.

Support to the EDF National Focal Points (NFP) network

Opened

Code: 35932 | Identifier Code: EDF-2025-CSA-NFP | Programme name: 3564 | Start submission calls: 18/02/2025 | End submission calls: 16/10/2025

The National Focal Points for the EDF (EDF-NFPs) consists of a network of individuals nominated by EU Member States and EDF Associated countries that are supported by national structures established under the responsibility and control of the EU Member States and EDF Associated Countries. The NFPs form an essential part of the EDF implementation by providing practical information, advice, training, and other forms of assistance to stakeholders on all aspects of participation in the EDF. This action aims at facilitating trans-national cooperation between EDF NFPs with a view to identifying and sharing good practices and raising the general standard of support to (potential) programme applicants, taking into account the diversity of actors that could benefit from the programme and thus contribute to strengthening the EDTIB.

Stand-off anti-submarine warfare engagement

Opened

Code: 35930 | Identifier Code: EDF-2025-RA-UWW-SOASW | Programme name: 3564 | Start submission calls: 18/02/2025 | End submission calls: 16/10/2025

It is essential for the survivability of a surface warship to be able to engage and neutralise an adversary submarine outside its effective weapon range when the mission dictates that evasion is not possible. The engagement capability must consequently be available at any time and within short notice, even outside of the deck cycles of the organic aircraft or availability of non-organic aircraft.

Specific objective: Market available rocket-launched torpedoes like the VL ASROC or MILAS are being launched from the Vertical Launch Systems (VLS) or upper deck surface-to-surface missile (SSM) containers, therefore consuming the very limited space and weight that could otherwise be used for air defence missiles or strike capabilities, increasingly required for present and future Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2/AD) threat environment, to achieve the Surface Warfare mission.
Current developments in the field of torpedo technology aim at developing very-lightweight torpedoes (VLWT) and ultra-lightweight torpedoes (ULWT). However, these new developments pose new challenges because of a reduced underwater effective range and the simultaneous requirement for extended range for transfer from the launching unit to the target area and with greater precision, delivering the effector at shorter range from its target, by suitable means to be determined. The surface warship requires an optimisation of its UW sensor suite for the prerequisite long-range detection and classification of targets with higher accuracy and update rates, which must be addressed before these new stand-off capabilities can develop their full potential.
Future multi-domain mission profiles require enhanced firepower distributed on board smaller size surface combatants, demanding for new and more flexible approach that delivers solutions able to be integrated in a multi-mission or multi- weapons bay, where both offboard and onboard sensors and effectors, can be loaded and integrated in a mission tailored configuration.
The aim of this activity is the identification of feasible common effector components, like V/ULW torpedoes or depth charges, which can be deployed by systems, which are usable for other purposes or in other warfare areas or even other warfare domains as well, like Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)/ Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USV) for reconnaissance and surveillance, affordable precision strike capability, or deploying sensors like sonobuoys, in a configuration similar to the multiple launch rocket system. This approach may allow greater degree of flexibility for the procurement of systems and as well reduce individual integration, certification and storage footprints thus increasing their viability for navies of EU Member States and EDF Associated Countries.