29/04/2026 (Agence Europe) – On Wednesday 29 April, the European Commission launched a new testing platform to evaluate military technology under real combat scenarios, marking the next phase of BraveTech EU, a joint initiative to fast-track military technology for Ukraine’s defence industry (see EUROPE 13679/17). The European Defence Agency will be responsible for this phase, which will “focus on testing emerging defence technologies and ideas proposed by European and Ukrainian innovators, SMEs and start-ups”, it said in a press release, adding that military experts from the Member States, Ukraine, the EDA and the Commission will then evaluate these solutions against different operational scenarios. With a budget of €35 million, the platform is designed to rapidly deploy priority innovations directly on the ground in Ukraine, according to the Commission. The first selections are scheduled for June 2026 and the initial field testing and evaluation campaigns for autumn 2026. (CG)