Smart and multifunctional textiles
Develop smart multifunctional textiles for soldier camouflage against drone surveillance with innovative technologies under EDF-2026-DA.
This call funds development of smart textiles integrated into soldier uniforms for protection and camouflage, especially against drones. It aims to enhance soldier survivability using innovative technologies. The project supports clean and resource-efficient tech in defense.
Likely relevant for
- defense technology developers
- textile and materials researchers
- smart textile manufacturers
- military equipment designers
- drone surveillance countermeasure developers
Project signals
What it funds
- Development of smart and multifunctional textiles for soldier systems
- Integration of environmental and physiological monitoring devices into textiles
- Innovative camouflage solutions against drone surveillance
- Protective functions including concealment of visual, radar, electromagnetic signatures
- Studies and design activities related to soldier system textiles
- Upstream and downstream activities eligible for development actions
Expected outcomes
- Individual soldier camouflage solutions effective against drone surveillance
- Enhanced soldier survivability in hostile environments
- Advancement in multifunctional textile technologies for defense
- Contribution to clean and resource-efficient technology objectives
Who can apply / participate
- defense industry companies
- research organizations
- universities
- technology developers
- consortia including multiple eligible entities
- Check call document for consortium composition rules
- Eligible countries as described in call document section 6
- Applicants must meet admissibility and eligibility conditions in call document section 6
- Specific country eligibility and consortium size must be verified in call documents
Must check before shortlisting
- eligibility of applicant countries
- specific consortium requirements
- detailed budget and funding conditions
Money
EUR 20 million allocated for this topic under EDF-2026-DA call, plus EUR 700,000 for entrusted entity remuneration.
- Indicative budget for topic — 20000000EURFor development actions under this call
- Remuneration for entrusted entity — 700000EURSeparate from main budget
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 in call document section 6.
- Financial and operational capacity requirements in call document section 7.
- Evaluation and award criteria in call document section 9.
- Legal and financial setup described in call document section 10.
- Call document and annexes including application templates and model grant agreements available.
- Prepare proposal following call document and application form guidelines.
- Submit proposal via Funding & Tenders Portal before deadline.
- Ensure compliance with eligibility and admissibility conditions.
- Contact DEFIS-EDF-PROPOSALS@ec.europa.eu for support if needed.
- Only one proposal expected to be funded, but more may be funded depending on quality and budget.
- Check detailed eligibility and consortium rules in call documents.
- Budget and deadlines must be verified before submission.
Derived from official EU Funding portal source · updated 7 Jul 2026, 12:13 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: Smart and multifunctional textiles allow various components and devices to be integrated into uniforms and soldier systems. This extends their range of functions, which can include environmental and physiological monitoring of the soldier, localisation, communication, protective functions (e.g. concealing a soldier's visual, radar and electromagnetic signatures from enemy sensors and surveillance technologies, fire protection and neutralisation of hazardous chemicals). Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has highlighted the critical operational need for protection of dismounted soldiers, particularly against drones, and triggered the definition of updated soldier system requirements. The objective of this topic is to follow up and complement previous activities in the field of smart and multifunctional textiles with a view to developing an individual camouflage solution, both static and dynamic, against drone surveillance using innovative technologies capable of ensuring soldier survivability in hostile environments. 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. Management mode: Action implemented in indirect management by the European Defence Agency. Form of funding: Contribution Agreement. Entrusted tasks : Implementation of actual cost grants following a competitive call. Targeted types of activities: Studies and design, not excluding upstream and downstream activities eligible for development actions. Indicative budget: EUR 20 000 000 for this topic under the EDF-2026-DA call and EUR 700 000 for the remuneration of the entrusted entity. Indicative number of proposals to be funded: One proposal is to be funded for this topic. However, depending on the quality of the submitted proposals and the available budget, 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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