Self-protection systems
Develop next-gen self-protection systems for fixed and rotary wing aircraft to enhance survivability in hostile environments.
This call funds the design and testing of advanced self-protection systems for combat and non-combat aircraft. Systems should integrate modularly, detect and counter threats automatically, and operate collaboratively with other platforms. The goal is to improve aircraft survivability against direct and indirect threats.
Likely relevant for
- Aerospace defense technology developers
- Military aircraft system integrators
- Defense research organizations
- Electronic warfare system designers
- Aircraft survivability technology experts
Project signals
What it funds
- Design and prototyping of next-generation self-protection systems for fixed and rotary wing aircraft
- Testing and qualification of integrated defense systems
- Development of modular systems compatible with multiple aircraft platforms
- Automatic coordination of countermeasures and threat classification
- Intelligence gathering and disruption of enemy tracking
- Collaborative protection capabilities with other platforms
Expected outcomes
- Enhanced survivability of combat and non-combat aircraft in hostile environments
- Modular, open architecture self-protection systems
- Improved threat detection and automatic response
- Systems compatible with international standards and data protection
- Collaborative defense capabilities across platforms
Who can apply / participate
- Defense industry companies
- Research organizations
- Consortia including multiple eligible entities
- Check call document for consortium requirements and eligible countries
- Eligibility as per section 6 of the call document
- Must comply with EDF programme rules and STEP Regulation
- Specific country eligibility and consortium size must be verified in call document
Must check before shortlisting
- Eligibility criteria in section 6 of the call document
- Consortium composition and country eligibility
- Specific technical requirements and standards compliance
Money
EUR 24 million is allocated for this topic under the EDF-2026-DA call. Funding rates and co-financing details must be checked in the call document.
- Total indicative budget — 24000000EURAllocated for self-protection systems topic under EDF-2026-DA
Application notes
- Single-stage submission model.
- Proposal page limits and layout as per section 5 of call document and Part B of Application Form.
- Eligibility and admissibility conditions in sections 6 and 7 of call document.
- Evaluation criteria and award process in sections 8 and 9 of call document.
- Legal and financial set-up described in section 10 of call document.
- Various declarations and templates provided in call annexes.
- Prepare proposal following call document guidelines.
- Submit proposal via Funding & Tenders Portal before deadline.
- Ensure compliance with eligibility and admissibility conditions.
- Include all required declarations and supporting documents.
- Check eligibility of countries and consortium composition.
- Follow page limits and formatting strictly.
- Review evaluation criteria carefully to maximize scoring.
Derived from official EU Funding portal source · updated 7 Jul 2026, 12:12 UTC. Use this as a shortlisting aid; the official call text remains authoritative.
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Official source text
Fine print from the EU source record. Expand when you need the original wording.
Topic description
Scope: The aim of this topic is to follow up and complement previous activities in the field of the next generation self-protection systems in order to increase the survivability of fixed wing and rotary wing, combat or non-combat aircraft in hostile environments. This topic is aimed at modular integration with both fixed and rotary wing aircraft, providing protection against direct and indirect threats based on open architecture and international standards, while protecting sensitive data and ensuring compatibility with other platforms. Key features include automatic coordination of countermeasures, threat detection and classification, and the ability to operate in complex environments. For indirect threats, the system should gather intelligence, disrupt enemy tracking and enable collaborative protection with other platforms. This topic contributes to the STEP objectives as defined in the STEP Regulation in the target investment area of defence technologies. Targeted types of activities: Design, system prototyping, testing and qualification, not excluding upstream and downstream activities eligible for development actions. Indicative budget: EUR 24 000 000 for this topic under the EDF-2026-DA call. Indicative number of proposals to be funded: One proposal is to be funded for this topic. However, depending on the quality of the proposals submitted and the budget available, more than one proposal may ultimately be funded for this topic.
Conditions and documents
Conditions
1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout
described in section 5 of the call document.
Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System.
2. Eligible Countries
described in section 6 of the call document.
3. Other Eligible Conditions
described in section 6 of the call document.
4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion
described in section 7 of the call document.
5a. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes
described section 8 of the call document and the Online Manual.
5b. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds
described in section 9 of the call document.
5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement
described in section 4 of the call document.
6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants
described in section 10 of the call document.
Call document and annexes:
Application form templates
Standard application form (EDF) — the application form specific to this call is available in the Submission System
Detailed budget table (EDF DA)
List of infrastructure, facilities, assets and resources (EDF)
Cofinancing declaration (EDF DA, DA LS AND ASAP)
Actual indirect cost methodology declaration (EDF)
Harmonised capability declaration (EDF DA AND DA LS)
Declaration on procurement intent and common specifications (EDF DA AND DA LS)
Model Grant Agreements (MGA)
Additional documents:
EDF Programme Security Instruction (PSI)
Guidelines on FSTP implementation - WP2026
EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509
Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment
EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement
Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual
Support information
For help related to this call, please contact DEFIS-EDF-PROPOSALS@ec.europa.eu Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ – Submission of proposals . IT Helpdesk – Contact the IT helpdesk for questions such as forgotten passwords, access rights and roles, technical aspects of submission of proposals, etc. Online Manual – Step-by-step online guide through the Portal processes from proposal preparation and evaluation to reporting on your ongoing project. Valid for all 2021-2027 programmes.
Raw budget overview
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