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 ”Fleet upgrade and close combat” (EDF-2021-GROUND-D).
There are significant cooperation opportunities in the Union regarding unmanned systems, which could be based on a shared operational concept and the resulting harmonisation of requirements. Moreover, the CDP analysis identifies the need to deploy unmanned systems to reduce the danger to human personnel and manned platforms, as well as to increase robustness, sustainability and resilience of ground systems. A comprehensive set of unmanned systems should contribute to the capability of land manoeuvre in the joint operational environment to gain positional advantage in respect to the adversary.
Purely unmanned tracked vehicles as funded under EDIDP will be not considered under this topic.
Detailed Call Description
Proposals should address the development of hardware or software modules designed to enable manned-unmanned operation modes and taking into account teaming and swarming, and to be integrated or embedded into a set of digitalised ground Armoured Vehicles (fielded, still under development or future) and showing the following capabilities:
- To interconnect in real time and in a fully secured way an extended set of systems supported by an intelligent management solution and by operational aid modules;
- To be integrated in a manned digitised vehicle to make it temporary unmanned for specific parts of the mission;
- To propose real-time “reflex actions” to increase force protection and impacts of actions;
- To cooperate with the rest of the combined armed company while being able to enter, remain and exit the company network and to interact with unmanned ground vehicles (UGV) and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV);
- To enable a versatile use in order to be deployed for a large spectrum of operational missions and provide operation capability in hostile, harsh environment;
- To be compliant with ethics and regulations regardless of the operational context.
Targeted activities: Studies, design and system prototyping, not excluding downstream
activities.
The budget earmarked on 2021 appropriations for this action will be completed by an amount of €109000000 from 2022 appropriations. This 2022 complementary budget is subject to the adoption of a separate financing decision.
Call Total Budget
Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan
100%
Thematic Categories
- 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: 30/09/2021-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