The funding will support dozens of projects from AI to air combat.  

The European Defence Fund (EDF) has announced a sweeping EUR1 billion Work Programme for 2026 that includes 10 calls for proposals across 31 topic areas to drive innovation, a 17 December European Commission announcement has revealed.  

Topics under the call for proposals include cybersecurity, medical equipment, air combat, simulation and training, and digital transformation, among other things. 

Established in 2021, the EDF has funded 224 projects with around EUR4 billion under successive work programmes. Under the EDF’s 2025 Work Programme, EUR1.1 billion was allocated cross nine calls for proposal. 

Half of the budget for the 2026 Work Programme will go towards supporting collaborative research and development on major defence capabilities such as an EU endo-atmospheric interceptor, main battle tank, semi-autonomous vessel, and key technologies for the next generation of combat aircraft, the EDF said. A quarter will then go towards “forward looking” technologies.  

The remaining EUR250 million will then go into funding the ‘EU Defence Innovation Scheme Business Accelerator’, which just recently announced it was seeking firms to join its second cohort.  

The first call under the EDF’s 2026 work programme has EUR110 million earmarked for technologies ranging from decontamination systems and multidomain sensors to quantum networks and autonomous air-to-air refuelling.  

A key project under this larger call, with EUR20 million earmarked, aims to explore the development of an innovative radar system optimised with AI – that can detect and track hypersonic glide vehicles and UAVs in a dynamic environment. 

AI plays a role in the third call for proposals as well, which allocates EUR30 million in funding for two projects focused on “AI-based tactical situational awareness” in the context of small robots and drones. 

In another call, the EDF has earmarked EUR40 million to develop multi-domain military cloud services. This will support the sharing of information between military systems and replace inefficient legacy systems. 

Other projects include developing high-performance energy systems, ammunition waste collection platforms, and creating layered critical undersea infrastructure protection, among many others. 

“Europe must strengthen collaboration in defence, with the EDF acting as a key foundation for this effort”, European Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius said. 

“For the sixth time, we are investing significant resources to incentivise and support research and development on major defence capabilities. With EUR1 billion in the 2026 EDF, we are putting collaboration at the centre of Europe’s defence innovation. We are turning shared priorities into shared capabilities”, he added.