EDF-2026-DA-ENERENV-AWC-STEP

Ammunition Waste Collection and Disposal Unmanned Platform

Status
open for submission
Programme
European Defence Fund (EDF)
Action type
EDF Development Actions
Opens
11 Feb 2026
Deadline
29 Sep 2026
Fetched
15 Jul 2026, 07:18 UTC
Plain-language summary

Develop a semi-autonomous system to detect and dispose of ammunition waste, enhancing safety and environmental cleanup in military areas.

This call seeks proposals to create a prototype unmanned platform that can identify and safely dispose of ammunition waste from military sites. The system should learn and improve over time, covering larger areas. The goal is to reduce human risk and support green military initiatives.

Likely relevant for

  • Defence technology developers
  • Robotics and autonomous systems researchers
  • Environmental cleanup technology providers
  • Military and security organizations

Project signals

Prototype development of unmanned systemsFocus on ammunition waste detection and disposalIntegration of learning algorithms for system improvementAlignment with green military and environmental goals

What it funds

  • Development of a semi-autonomous remote management system for ammunition waste detection and disposal
  • Integration of adaptive hardware with continuous learning capabilities
  • Prototyping, testing, qualification, and certification of the system
  • Upstream and downstream activities related to development actions

Expected outcomes

  • A working prototype that improves performance over time
  • Reduced human risk in ammunition waste disposal
  • Cleaner military training areas and battlefields
  • Contribution to clean and resource-efficient technologies under STEP objectives

Who can apply / participate

  • Research organizations
  • Industry and SMEs with relevant expertise
  • Defence and security entities
  • Consortia involving multiple partners
  • Check call document for consortium composition rules
  • Eligible countries as per call document section 6
  • Refer to call document section 6 for detailed eligibility conditions
  • Exact consortium size and composition
  • Specific country eligibility list

Must check before shortlisting

  • Eligibility criteria in call document section 6
  • Consortium requirements and country eligibility
  • Budget and funding rate details
  • Specific submission and evaluation conditions

Money

Indicative budget of EUR 10,000,000 for this topic under the EDF-2026-DA call.

  • Total budget for topic — 10000000EUR
    Indicative budget for the development of the prototype system

Application notes

  • Single-stage submission model.
  • Proposal page limits and layout as per call document section 5 and application form Part B
  • Eligibility and admissibility conditions as per call document section 6
  • Financial and operational capacity requirements as per call document section 7
  • Evaluation criteria and award process as per call document sections 8 and 9
  • Legal and financial set-up as per call document section 10
  • Prepare proposal following the application form templates and guidelines
  • Submit proposal via the Funding & Tenders Portal before the deadline
  • Ensure compliance with all eligibility and admissibility criteria
  • Review evaluation and award criteria to align proposal accordingly
  • Check all eligibility and consortium rules carefully
  • Budget and funding details may vary; confirm in official documents
  • Only one or possibly a few proposals will be funded depending on quality and budget

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.

Related calls

These funding calls are closely related and may be worth considering as part of the same funding landscape.

Official source text

Fine print from the EU source record. Expand when you need the original wording.

Topic description

Scope: This topic aims to develop a prototype of a semi-autonomous remote management system, integrated with adaptive hardware that continuously learns and improves its ability to identify and dispose of potential objects. The primary objective is to detect and dispose of ammunition waste and residues from military training areas and battlefields. This will significantly reduce the risk factor associated with human involvement, ultimately contributing to a cleaner environment and in line with the ‘green military’ concept. The performance of the system to be developed is expected to improve over time, allowing it to expand its capabilities and cover larger areas. Beyond defence technologies, this topic also contributes to the STEP objectives as defined in the STEP Regulation in the target investment area of clean and resource-efficient technologies. Targeted types of activities: Studies, design, system prototyping, testing, qualification and certification, not excluding upstream and downstream activities eligible for development actions. Indicative budget: EUR 10 000 000 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.

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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