Autonomous and automatic air-to-air refuelling
Develop autonomous sensor and control systems for safer, efficient air-to-air refuelling in military and unmanned aerial operations.
This call seeks research on automated air-to-air refuelling technologies to reduce pilot workload and enhance safety. It focuses on sensor fusion, optical sensors, image processing, and flight control algorithms. The goal is to improve docking and refuelling efficiency, especially for future unmanned aerial systems.
Likely relevant for
- Defence technology researchers
- Aerospace sensor developers
- Flight control system engineers
- Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology developers
- Military aviation technology experts
Project signals
What it funds
- Research and development of sensor systems for relative navigation between tanker and receiver aircraft
- Development of enhanced optical sensors and advanced image processing techniques
- Creation of flight control algorithms and pilot assistance interfaces for docking and refuelling
- Activities contributing to defence technology advancements under the STEP Regulation
Expected outcomes
- Improved safety and reduced workload in air-to-air refuelling operations
- Enhanced time efficiency in docking and refuelling processes
- Technologies enabling autonomous refuelling for unmanned aerial systems
Who can apply / participate
- Research organizations
- Defence industry companies
- Aerospace technology developers
- Consortia including multiple eligible entities
- Check call document section 6 for consortium composition rules
- Eligibility as per section 6 of the call document
- Refer to section 6 of the call document for detailed eligibility conditions
- 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 requirements and country eligibility
- Specific budget and funding conditions
Money
EUR 20 million indicative budget allocated for this topic under the EDF-2026-RA call.
- Indicative budget for Autonomous and automatic air-to-air refuelling topic — 20000000EURIndicative amount for 2026 under EDF-2026-RA call
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 detailed in sections 6 and 7 of call document.
- Evaluation criteria and award process described in sections 8 and 9 of call document.
- Legal and financial grant setup in section 10 of call document.
- Refer to call document and annexes for full application details.
- Prepare proposal following call document guidelines.
- Submit proposal via Funding & Tenders Portal before deadline.
- Ensure compliance with eligibility and admissibility conditions.
- Consult Online Manual and IT Helpdesk for submission support.
- Eligibility and consortium rules must be verified in call document.
- Budget and funding conditions subject to call document specifications.
Derived from official EU Funding portal source · updated 7 Jul 2026, 12:16 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: Air-to-air refuelling enhances military operations by enabling long-range missions. Refuelling currently requires manual coordination between tanker operators and receiving pilots, which is complex and labour-intensive. Automated air-to-air refuelling solutions are expected to reduce workload and increase safety for both crews, while also being essential for future unmanned aerial systems. The objective of this topic is to explore the development of sensor systems, in particular hardware and sensor fusion, to enable accurate relative navigation between tanker, receiver and refuelling systems, even in adverse conditions. In addition, enhanced optical sensors, advanced image processing, flight control algorithms and pilot assistance interfaces will play a crucial role in improving the docking and refuelling process, increasing safety and time efficiency. 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: Integrating knowledge, studies and design, not excluding upstream activities eligible for research actions. Indicative budget: EUR 20 000 000 for this topic under the EDF-2026-RA call. Indicative number of proposals to be funded: Several proposals may 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 RA)
List of infrastructure, facilities, assets and resources (EDF)
Actual indirect cost methodology declaration (EDF)
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 please add a contact e-mail or url 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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