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
This topic has opened under the call ”ISR and advanced communications” (EDF-2021-C4ISR-D).
This topic addresses design and development activities in that respect, using commercial and military secure hardware, software and architecture, including LTE 5G and beyond, digital transceivers, considering multi-functional digital antenna systems, all with a SWAP-C (Size, Weight, Power and Cost) approach.
The specific challenge of this topic is to assess identified use cases, whereby 5G will bring improved operational capacities and build corresponding interoperable 5G solutions matching the military constraints in terms of robustness, resilience, security, sovereignty and manageability, and at the same time ensuring efficient interoperability of the 5G solutions with military networking technologies.
Detailed Call Description
Wideband and reliable communication for operational interoperability, mobility and security that is robust against detection, acquisition and jamming are key capabilities for defence operations and electronic warfare, including far from the battlefield.
The proposals must lead to the identification and assessment of operational use cases where 5G will bring benefits, analyse the merits, the implementation guidelines, including eventual modifications, and prototype selected use cases, and the area of hardening, if necessary, will be identified and the militarisation/customization tasks will be further defined and assessed.
The objective is to help optimising the 5G solutions for the intended military user taking care of the best combination of operational constraints and available 5G computing power. The proposal must provide tested solutions covering all aspects from devices, infrastructure, security and orchestration of the overall system providing an optimized solution, in order to best integrate 5G solutions with other military network types that might be present in the use cases.
Potential military 5G use cases should possibly consider to:
- Provide secure and robust command, control and communication providing information relevant at C2 (Command and Control) level for ISR and, in the future, for cyber situational awareness.
- Remotely control unmanned vehicles and robots.
- Integrate 5G network enabling augmented/virtual reality for mission planning, training and operational use.
- Integrate 5G network enabling smart warehouses, smart field health care and supply/logistic solutions.
Targeted activities: Studies, design, prototyping and testing, not excluding upstream and downstream activities.
Call Total Budget
Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan
100%
Thematic Categories
- Information Technology
- Research, Technological Development and Innovation
Eligibility for Participation
- Central Government
- Large Enterprises
- Private Bodies
- Researchers/Research Centers/Institutions
- Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
- State-owned Enterprises
Eligibility For Participation Notes
The action shall be carried out by legal entities cooperating within a consortium of at least three eligible legal entities which are established in at least three different Member States or associated countries. At least three of those eligible legal entities established in at least two different Member States or associated countries shall not, during the entire period in which the action is carried out, be controlled, directly or indirectly, by the same legal entity and shall not control each other.
The admissibility and eligibility conditions are described under Article 9 and Article 10(4) of the EDF regulation.
Call Opening Date
Call Closing Date
National Contact Point(s)
Ministry of Defense
172-174 Strovolos Avenue, 2048 Strovolos, Nicosia,
website: https://mod.gov.cy/
Telephone: 22 807500
Email: defence@mod.gov.cy
Department of Research and Innovation
Phones: 22 807755, 22 807754
Email: research.innovation@mod.gov.cy
(Publish Date: 29/09/2021-for internal use only)
EU Contact Point
European Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space (DEFIS)
https://ec.europa.eu/info/departments/defence-industry-and-space_en