Non-thematic development actions by SMEs
EDF 2026 call for SMEs to develop innovative defence products and adapt civil tech for defence with lump sum grants up to €6M.
This call invites SMEs to propose innovative defence-related products and technologies from TRL 4 and above. It also welcomes adapting civil technologies for defence use. Funding is provided as lump sum grants with a maximum of €6 million per proposal.
Likely relevant for
- SMEs in defence technology
- Companies with TRL 4+ defence innovations
- Firms adapting civil tech for defence
Project signals
What it funds
- Innovative defence products, solutions, and technologies
- Technologies improving readiness, deployability, safety, sustainability of defence forces
- Disruptive knowledge and technologies from TRL 4 and above
- Add-on development adapting civil technologies for defence
Expected outcomes
- Prototypes, tested and qualified defence systems
- Certified and efficient defence solutions
- Spinning-in of civil innovations into defence sector
Who can apply / participate
- Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)
- Single-stage submission model; consortium rules not explicitly stated
- Eligible countries as per call document section 6
- Applicants must meet admissibility and eligibility conditions in call document
- Exact eligible countries and consortium composition details
Must check before shortlisting
- Eligibility of country and applicant type
- Specific admissibility conditions in call document
- Compliance with lump sum grant rules
Money
Total indicative budget €30 million for this topic; maximum EU contribution per proposal €6 million.
- Indicative budget for topic — 30000000EURIncludes €1,050,000 for remuneration of entrusted entity
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 detailed in call document sections 6 and 7.
- Evaluation criteria and process described in call document section 8 and 9.
- Legal and financial setup in call document section 10.
- Call document and annexes available on Funding & Tenders Portal.
- Prepare proposal following call document and application form templates.
- Submit proposal via Funding & Tenders Portal before deadline.
- Follow evaluation and award process as described.
- Contact DEFIS-EDF-PROPOSALS@ec.europa.eu for support.
- Check eligibility of country and applicant type carefully.
- Ensure compliance with lump sum grant requirements.
- Review all call document sections for detailed conditions.
Derived from official EU Funding portal source · updated 7 Jul 2026, 12:14 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 proposals must address innovative defence products, solutions and technologies, including those that can improve readiness, deployability, reliability, safety and sustainability of forces in defence tasks and missions, for example in terms of operations, equipment, infrastructure, energy solutions, surveillance systems or digital solutions. Proposals must address disruptive knowledge, products and technologies in any area of defence interest( [1] ) from TRL 4 and above( [1] ). In addition, to best complement R&D efforts that already target civil applications and encourage the efficient spinning-in of knowledge, innovation and technological development to the defence sector, this call topic also welcomes proposals for add-on development actions to adapt solutions originally developed for civil applications and previously not applied in the defence sector. Management mode: Action implemented in indirect management by the European Defence Agency. Form of funding: Contribution Agreement. Entrusted tasks : Implementation of lump sum grants , as decided by the Commission at the time of the awards following the competitive call EDF-2026-LS-DA-SME-NT. Targeted types of activities: Any activities eligible for a development action. However, the proposals must address at least one activity among design, system prototyping, testing, qualification, certification and increasing efficiency. Indicative budget: EUR 30 000 000 to support this topic and EUR 1 050 000 for the remuneration of the entrusted entity. Range of financial contribution of the EU per proposal : The requested funding cannot exceed EUR 6 000 000. [1] [2]
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 LS 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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