On Wednesday 19 November, the European Commission presented a ‘roadmap’ for transforming the defence industry and unlocking the potential of disruptive innovation for defence readiness.
Believing that innovation is a critical component of readiness, it intends to accelerate defence industry modernisation and support new players in the sector.
“The war in Ukraine clearly demonstrates how fast defence technologies evolve and how frontier technologies such as AI, quantum, cyber and space-based systems provide rapid tactical change in the battlefield. So the EU needs a fundamental change of mindset at all levels, member states, industry, and our EU institutions. We want agility, speed, collaboration and risk taking become the new normal in defence capability development in Europe”, summed up the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, Henna Virkkunen.
To create this ‘roadmap’, the Commission has drawn on Ukraine’s experience, and will strengthen the role of the EU Defence Innovation Office in Kyiv to become an ‘EU Defence Industry Office’, responsible for monitoring military technology developments and cutting-edge defence innovation.
The strategy has three main objectives: - better connect the defence and advanced technology communities to accelerate the development of breakthrough solutions and the emergence of new defence players; - accelerate the integration of advanced technologies into the military capabilities of EU Member States; - strengthen Europe’s defence production capacity.
To achieve this, it will focus on four priorities. The first is support for investment in defence companies. “Together with EIB/EIF, the Commission will support the launch of an up to €1 billion Fund of Funds to provide growth capital to defence-related innovative SMEs and scale-ups and consolidate defence supply chains, with the support of private funds”, announces the ‘roadmap’.
The Commission also wants to speed up the development of new technologies, and is proposing a new instrument, called AGILE, for which it will make a proposal in the first quarter of 2026. “Our aim is for AGILE to enable the development, within 6 to 12 months, of innovative solutions that meet military requirements”, explained European Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius, adding that AGILE was designed to support companies in the rapid development of low-cost production.
The Commission intends to facilitate access to infrastructure in the EU, such as the Joint Research Centre facilities, and in the Member States, in order to facilitate the rapid validation and development of defence technologies.
The strengthening and operation of a 28th regime to help defence companies overcome the obstacles to starting up, access to finance, development and operations within the single market are also being put forward.
Finally, the Commission plans to create a European Defence Data Space by the end of 2026.
Another area of work focuses on widening access to defence capabilities with the launch of EUDIS Technology Alliances, “creating a network of start-ups and fast-growing companies in the defence sector, as well as end-users (armed forces), around priority capability areas”, with a pilot planned for the end of 2025.
The Commission also wants to create a market for EU-backed defence technologies and products, facilitating a fast-track procurement procedure for projects and companies supported by the European Defence Fund. It intends to revise the Directive on sensitive defence and security acquisitions, incorporating measures to facilitate investment by Member States through faster, more streamlined and more transparent procurement procedures.
Lastly, the Commission intends to promote the acquisition of the skills needed to maintain Europe’s technological lead, in particular by setting up a Skills Guarantee pilot project to help workers threatened with unemployment or undergoing professional retraining from the automotive sector to gain access to jobs in strategic growth sectors such as defence.
It also wants to create a European sectoral talent platform for the defence industry, to support internships, and could look into the possibility of creating a ‘European Skills Academy’ in this field.
Link to the strategy: https://aeur.eu/f/jj6 (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)