The European Commission has announced a plan to fund nearly €1.2 billion in defence-related research and development projects.

The European Commission (EC) said in a statement on 20^th July that it is upping its defence game following a call for proposals under the European Defence Fund (EDF). An estimated €1.2 billion will be allocated in 2022 for 61 new projects as part of a €8 billion total over the years 2021 to 2027.

The projects cover a selection of high-end defence capability programmes such as next generation fighter planes, tanks and ships. It will also be supporting new technologies such as a military cloud, AI, semiconductors, space, cyber and medical countermeasures, in addition to heading up disruptive technologies, namely in quantum tech and new materials.

“The high-quality projects selected have shown that defence industrial cooperation in Europe can be truly achieved, and even on a wide scale,” said Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager. “The almost 700 companies that will research and develop the next-generation of innovative defence technologies through EU funds will put into motion a resilient and competitive industrial base. With SMEs accounting for 43% of the entities participating in selected projects, this shows that the European Defence Fund programme does involve the entire EU industrial value chain.”