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
Optical and radar images of a given geographic area contain complementary information. While these different types of images result from very different physical principles, which make their combination quite challenging, such a combination can lead to improved information extraction and capabilities. This call topic therefore aims at progressing information fusion approaches towards this objective.
Detailed Call Description
Imagery analysis and in particular satellite image analysis is an important component of defence intelligence. It enables to gather strategic and operational information on facilities, vehicles and forces on the ground and on the seas with a good geographic coverage across the Earth, and to assess the status of suspicious or hostile activities.
Satellite imagery analysis has long relied on traditional techniques, but the ever-increasing amounts of available satellite images has led to a need for automated analysis technologies. These technologies have been the subject of much research over several decades, and the steady progress of artificial intelligence (AI) and in particular of AI-based image recognition has led to new tools appearing on the market. However, much of the development work and technological challenges in this field have focused on image types other than satellite images, and there is a need to foster the progress of satellite image analysis technologies. In this context, the general objective of this call topic is to enhance these technologies by giving research teams the opportunity to benefit from the organisation of a technological challenge dedicated to them.
The proposals must address technological solutions to detect, identify and characterise relevant information from multi-source satellite images, in particular by taking advantage of the complementarity of optical and radar images. These technological solutions must be evaluated in the framework of the technological challenge organised under this call. Technologies should be integrated into demonstrators that can be tested by representative defence users on their own data.
The outcome should contribute to:
- an enhanced exploitation of satellite images, by automating the workflow of imagery intelligence production and enabling analysts to focus on value-added tasks;
- the EU technological edge and autonomy for defence-related satellite imagery analysis.
Call Total Budget
Thematic Categories
- Research, Technological Development and Innovation
Eligibility for Participation
- Businesses
- Legal Entities
- Other Beneficiaries
- Private Bodies
- Researchers/Research Centers/Institutions
- State-owned Enterprises
Eligibility For Participation Notes
In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must:
- 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’, see list of participating countries)
- have their executive management structure established in eligible countries
- must 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 3 independent applicants (beneficiaries; not affiliated entities) from 3 different eligible countries.
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