Programme Category
Programme Name
Programme Description
The European Defence Fund (EDF) is the Commission’s initiative to support collaborative defence research and development, and to foster an innovative and competitive defence industrial base.
Identifier Code
Call
Summary
Due to a growing number of sabotage acts on critical underwater infrastructure, SBW has gained a very high level of interest for many EU navies. It is therefore necessary to be able to counter the various threat types operating in deep waters up to 6000m in depth. An extensive and precise research activity, focused on “great-depth enabling technologies”, could represent an important intermediate step towards an optimised and more efficient future SBW. The results of the research activity could facilitate and speed up the design of new systems specifically conceived and optimised for the operation in the new operational scenarios. At the same time, these new great-depth technologies could facilitate the adaptation of current systems to new operational requirements.
Therefore the aim is to progress in undersea operations (e.g., SBW) in deep waters up to a depth of 6000m, with a concept phase to study and evaluate technologies suitable for platforms and payloads to allow unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV), detection systems, warning systems, communication systems, and weapon systems to perform deep water undersea missions (e.g., SBW missions), or even to be applied on fixed elements such as monitoring systems.
Detailed Call Description
Most of today’s surveillance and reaction systems currently in service in Western navies have been developed to operate at limited depths, and not in the immediate proximity of the seabed. For many of these systems, extension to new operational requirements is hampered by several technological barriers. For example, with existing technologies the maximum operating depth of vehicles based on a pressure-resistant hull (such as traditional torpedoes) is insufficient for new and emerging operational scenarios.
An extensive and precise research activity, focused on “great-depth enabling technologies”, could represent an important intermediate step towards an optimised and more efficient future SBW. The results of the research activity could facilitate and speed up the design of new systems specifically conceived and optimised for the operation in the new operational scenarios. At the same time, these new great-depth technologies could facilitate the adaptation of current systems to new operational requirements.
Proposals are expected to reach technology readiness level (TRL) 5.
The proposals must identify defence use cases and justify the relevance of the proposed technologies to be addressed with respect to these use cases, taking into account the wider landscape of potential solutions for these use cases and the deployment costs.
Layered defensive depth must be formed and critical areas must be identified where monitoring and protection of the critical undersea infrastructure must be extended.
Functional requirements: The proposed product and technologies should meet the following functional requirements where applicable for the domains addressed:
- Marinisation and miniaturisation of critical components, including pressure-tolerant solutions.
- Autonomous accurate underwater navigation with poor or no positioning aid.
- Materials and solutions for underwater persistency over a long period of time, including underwater garages and integrated equipment/sensors for UUVs continuous health monitoring and preservation.
- Enhanced underwater communication in deep waters (up to a depth of 6000m): spanning from the analysis of applicability of fibre optic link and sensors, seabed-to-seabed and seabed-to-surface networked data exchange, to ultra-low frequency acoustic propagation.
Projects must comply with:
- highest ethical standards (including highest standards of research integrity) and
- applicable EU, international and national law.
Call Total Budget
Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan
100%
Thematic Categories
- Justice - Security
- Other Thematic Category
- Research, Technological Development and Innovation
- Shipping - Marine Transports
- Small-Medium Enterprises and Competitiveness
Eligibility for Participation
- Legal Entities
- Other Beneficiaries
- Private Bodies
- Researchers/Research Centers/Institutions
- Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
- State-owned Enterprises
Eligibility For Participation Notes
In order to be eligible, all applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must cumulatively:
- 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:
- listed EEA countries (‘EDF associated countries’; list of participating countries)
- have their executive management structure established in eligible countries
- not be subject to control by a non-associated third country or non-associated third-country entity (unless they can provide guarantees – see Annex 2 – approved by the Member State or EDF associated country where they are established)
Consortium composition – Proposals must be submitted by: minimum 2 independent applicants (beneficiaries; not affiliated entities) from 2 different eligible countries.
Eligible actions and activities: Applications will only be considered eligible if their content corresponds wholly (or at least in part) to the topic description for which they are submitted.
Financial support to third parties is not allowed.
Call Opening Date
Call Closing Date
National Contact Point(s)
Ministry of Defense
Address: 172-174 Strovolos Avenue, 2048 Strovolos, Nicosia
Telephone: 22 807500
Email: defence@mod.gov.cy
Website: https://mod.gov.cy/
Department of Research and Innovation
Telephones: 22 807755, 22 807754
Email: research.innovation@mod.gov.cy
EU Contact Point
For help related to this call, please contact: DEFIS-EDF-PROPOSALS@ec.europa.eu