The European Commission announced on Tuesday 19 March the adoption of work programmes to co-finance industrial projects in the field of defence for the period 2019-2020, for a total amount of €525 million under the European Defence Industrial Development Programme (EDIDP).
The focus will be on areas such as drone technology, satellite communication, early warning systems, artificial intelligence, cyber defence or maritime surveillance, the institution explains.
Thus: - €80 million is earmarked to contribute to the development of detection capabilities; - €182 million is earmarked for cybersecurity and cyber defence, space surveillance and early warning capabilities and maritime surveillance; - €71 million for precision ground strike technologies, ground combat capabilities, air combat and naval systems; - €27 million is earmarked for artificial intelligence, virtual reality and cyber technologies.
Two projects have been proposed for direct award: €100 million to support the development of Eurodrone, an essential capacity for Europe's strategic autonomy, and €37 million to support interoperable and secure ESSOR military communications.
“European defence is happening. On the basis of this successful experience we will scale up funding to have a fully-fledged European Defence Fund in place in 2021,” said European Commission Vice-President Jyrki Katainen, referring to the future European Defence Fund (EDF), which was the subject of a provisional agreement between the European Parliament and the EU Council at the end of February (see EUROPE 12198/22), and which should be endowed with around €13 billion. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)