On 22 December, the European Commission announced the signature, the day before, of the first grant agreement funded by the EU for a research project into defence, in the framework of the European Defence Fund (EDF).
Under the move, the EU has granted €1 million to the project PYTHIA, which aims to identify key trends in the fast-evolving world of innovative defence technologies. “The technology foresight project will use big data analysis to examine large volumes of technological information, looking to identify future disruptive technologies and recommend future defence research themes”, the Commission states in a press release. The PYTHIA consortium, which is run by the Italian company Ingegneria Informatica S.p.A., brings together partners from Bulgaria, France, Italy, Poland, Romania and the United Kingdom.
Further research grants in the areas of drones and protection and equipment for soldiers will be signed in the coming weeks, the Commission reports.
As part of the research plank of the EDF, €90 million will be allocated to pay for defence research projects over the 2017-2019 period. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)