Land collaborative combat including air-land

The main goal of this opportunity is to strengthen collaborative land combat capabilities among EU Member States and EDF Associated Countries. The focus is on improving both existing and new technologies for land-based military operations, including air-land integration. Key areas include collaborative force protection, advanced threat evaluation, and secure, interoperable communications. Projects should introduce innovative technologies such as AI, edge computing, and cloud-native solutions, aiming to enhance operational performance and connectivity. Activities are expected to support EU defence needs and foster solutions that are adaptable, secure, and modular.

• Projects must develop or demonstrate multinational collaborative land combat capabilities.
• Solutions should enhance military land systems used or developed by EU Member States or EDF Associated Countries.
• Activities should cover all operational levels, from individual soldiers to command posts.
• Projects may include knowledge generation, interoperability improvements, feasibility studies, defence product design, prototyping, testing, qualification, and certification.
• Proposals should address lifecycle efficiency for defence products and systems.

Example projects:

• Developing a prototype system that allows unmanned vehicles and soldiers to share real-time threat information during joint missions.
• Designing an AI-powered tool for multinational mission planning and secure communication between different national forces.
• Conducting a feasibility study for integrating cloud-based data sharing across land-based military platforms from several countries.

• Knowledge generation activities
• Interoperability and resilience improvements
• Feasibility studies
• Defence product and system design
• System prototyping
• Testing and evaluation of technologies
• Qualification and certification processes
• Development of enabling technologies and architecture frameworks
• Analysis of standards and evaluation of Test and Evaluation (T&E) capabilities
• Depreciation or, in certain cases, full purchase costs of equipment used for prototyping

Restrictions: Only costs directly related to the project and necessary for its implementation are eligible. Equipment costs may be limited to depreciation except in specific prototyping scenarios.

Budget for the grant: 44,000,000€

• Applicants must be established in EU Member States or EDF Associated Countries.
• Projects should involve collaboration among entities from eligible countries.
• Applicants must demonstrate financial and operational capacity to complete the project.
• Proposals must address the objectives and focus areas described in the opportunity.
• Applicants should not be subject to exclusion criteria, such as conflicts of interest or criminal convictions.
• Eligibility may require participation in networks or partnerships across multiple countries.
• All participants must comply with ethical and legal standards relevant to defence projects.