Advanced border surveillance and situational awareness
Develop advanced border surveillance and situational awareness solutions to detect unmanned vehicles and improve border security while safeguarding fundamental rights.
This call funds innovation actions to enhance detection and response capabilities at EU external borders. Projects should improve surveillance of land and sea borders, focusing on unmanned vehicles and large-scale movements of people. Solutions must respect human rights and integrate with EU systems like EUROSUR.
Likely relevant for
- Border and Coast Guard Authorities
- Security technology developers
- Research institutions in border security
- Companies specializing in unmanned vehicle detection
- Public authorities managing border control
Project signals
What it funds
- Development of advanced detection, localization, characterization, and neutralization of unmanned vehicles involved in trafficking or smuggling at external borders
- Improvement of border situational awareness for large-scale movements of people and irregular migration
- Enhancement of fundamental rights protection through better situational awareness
- Reliable and redundant detection and reaction capacities ensuring safety of staff and society
- Modular and scalable solutions compatible with EUROSUR and possibly CISE
- Cost reduction and energy efficiency in border surveillance operations
Expected outcomes
- Improved detection and response to unmanned vehicle threats at borders
- Enhanced situational awareness for managing large-scale border movements
- Better safeguarding of fundamental rights and EU values
- Reliable, redundant, and safe border surveillance systems
- Cross-border cooperation through demonstration testbeds
- Technologies reaching TRL 6-7 by project end
Who can apply / participate
- Border or Coast Guard Authorities
- Research organizations
- Industry and SMEs
- Public authorities
- At least 2 Border or Coast Guard Authorities from different EU Member States or Associated countries must be beneficiaries and actively involved
- Participants must be from eligible countries as described in Horizon Europe Annex B
- Entities controlled by China or Chinese legal entities are not eligible
- Use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS data mandatory if satellite-based services are used
- Specific consortium size limits not stated
- Exact funding rates not specified
Must check before shortlisting
- Eligibility of participants from eligible countries
- Involvement of at least 2 Border or Coast Guard Authorities from different EU/Associated countries
- Compliance with restrictions on entities controlled by China
- Use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS data if satellite-based services are used
Money
Expected grants: 2 Innovation Actions with a total budget of approximately €12 million in 2026. Funding is provided as lump sums under Horizon Lump Sum Grant model.
- Number of grants — 2Innovation Actions
- Total budget — 12000000EURFor 2026
- Minimum contribution per grant — 6000000EURPer grant lump sum
Application notes
- Single-stage submission model.
- Proposal page limits and layout as per Annex A and E of Horizon Europe General Annexes.
- Eligibility criteria include involvement of at least 2 Border or Coast Guard Authorities from different EU/Associated countries.
- Use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS data mandatory if satellite-based services are used.
- Restrictions on entities controlled by China apply.
- Some activities may involve classified or security sensitive information (EUCI and SEN).
- Prepare proposal following the specific application form in the Submission System.
- Include eligibility information about practitioners in the application form.
- Ensure alignment with EBCG Capability Roadmap and engagement with Frontex during project implementation.
- Submit proposal by the deadline date (2026-11-05).
- Frontex will not provide guidance during proposal preparation but may observe pilots during implementation.
- Mid-term deliverable must include assessment by involved security practitioners.
- Eligible costs are lump sums as per Horizon Europe lump sum decision.
- Legal and financial provisions apply as per Horizon Europe General Annexes.
Derived from official EU Funding portal source · updated 2 Jul 2026, 09:13 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
Expected Outcome: Project results are expected to contribute to some or all of the following expected outcomes: Improved detection, localization, characterization and, when applicable, neutralisation, of unmanned vehicles alone or in swarms, involved in trafficking or smuggling activities across external borders, while complying with legal and ethical guidelines; Improved border situational awareness, especially in the context of large-scale movements of people across borders, including from potential instrumentalisation of irregular migration, conflicts, social, economic, environmental and climate stress; Better safeguard and promotion of fundamental rights thanks to enhanced situational awareness; Reliable, redundant detection and reaction capacities without putting staff and society at risk. Scope: Capabilities for situational awareness and surveillance of land and sea borders need improvement, in consideration of potential future challenges that may require updated capabilities. These challenges may include potential future large-scale movements of people across external borders, resulting from future attempts to instrumentalisation of irregular migration, but also from conflicts, social, economic, environmental and climate stress in the European neighbourhood; as well as increasing availability and capability of unmanned aerial, surface, and underwater vehicles with increased payload capacity and range that make it easier to transport goods and, possibly, persons, including in connection will illicit or illegal activities such as trafficking of goods and smuggling of people across external EU borders. These challenges will be particularly relevant in regions close to the European neighbourhood. This may be particularly relevant for unsupervised and difficult-to-control land and sea borders of the Union and the Schengen area. Research funded under this topic should develop solutions that, through better awareness, improve efficiency and reaction time of detection, search, rescue, and recovery operations near land and sea borders, in diverse geographical and meteorological conditions, taking into account the different and diverse needs. Research funded under this topic can also promote cross-border cooperation at European regional level around innovative border management solutions demonstration testbeds. Actions funded under this topic should develop solutions that go beyond state-of-the-art in clearly demonstrable ways, including measurable improvements in detection range, accuracy, response time, automation, and system resilience. Improved border surveillance and situational awareness must better safeguard and promote fundamental rights and EU values, with a particular regard to human rights, using an inclusive approach that addresses diverse needs. Solutions should also provide reliable and redundant capacities, while ensuring the safety of staff, users, and persons who may be victim of illicit activities across external borders. The EBCG Capability Roadmap recognises that future capabilities that help detect cross-border irregularities and cases requiring Search and Rescue activities are essential. Solutions should be modular and scalable to cater to the regional and challenges specificities. Compatibility and integration with the European Border Surveillance System (EUROSUR) is essential, and compatibility and/or exploitation of other European information-sharing environments, like the Common Information Sharing Environment (CISE), would be an additional asset. Proposals should demonstrate that the proposed equipment and technologies contribute to cost reduction and energy efficiency of border surveillance and situational awareness operations. Proposals submitted under this topic are expected to address the priorities of the European Border and Coast Guard (ECBG) and of its Agency (Frontex). This should start from the definition of requirements and the design phase, including alignment with the EBCG Capability Roadmap and on the engagement with the Agency during the project implementation. At the proposal preparation stage, Frontex will not provide guidance on or otherwise be involved in the preparation of project proposals. However, proposals should consider and anticipate that Frontex may observe pilots and demonstrations during project implementation to facilitate the future uptake of innovations within the border and coast guard community. To ensure active involvement and timely feedback from relevant security practitioners, proposals should include a mid-term deliverable consisting of an assessment of the project’s mid-term outcomes, conducted by the practitioners involved in the project. Technology Readiness Level - Technology readiness level expected from completed projects Activities are expected to achieve TRL 6-7 by the end of the project – see General Annex B.
Conditions and documents
General conditions
1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout
2. Eligible Countries
described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.
A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.
3. Other Eligible Conditions
In line with the “restriction on control in innovation actions in critical technology areas” delineated in General Annex B of the General Annexes, entities established in an eligible country but which are directly or indirectly controlled by China or by a legal entity established in China are not eligible to participate in the action.
Subject to restrictions for the protection of European communication networks.
The following additional eligibility criteria apply:
This topic requires the active involvement, as beneficiaries, of at least 2 Border or Coast Guard Authorities from at least 2 different EU Member States or Associated countries. For these participants, applicants must fill in the table “Eligibility information about practitioners” in the application form with all the requested information, following the template provided in the submission IT tool.
If projects use satellite-based earth observation, positioning, navigation and/or related timing data and services, beneficiaries must make use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS (other data and services may additionally be used).
described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.
4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion
described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.
5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds
are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes.
5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes
are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual.
5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement
described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.
6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants
The granting authority may, up to 4 years after the end of the action, object to a transfer of ownership or to the exclusive licensing of results, as set out in the specific provision of Annex 5.
Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2021-2027) – and in actions under the Research and Training Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (2021-2025) [[This decision is available on the Funding and Tenders Portal, in the reference documents section for Horizon Europe, under ‘Simplified costs decisions’ or through this link: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/guidance/ls-decision_he_en.pdf]].
described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Specific conditions
described in the specific topic of the Work Programme
Some activities resulting from this topic may involve using classified background and/or producing of security sensitive results (EUCI and SEN). Please refer to the related provisions in section B Security — EU classified and sensitive information of the General Annexes.
Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA):
Application form templates — the application form specific to this call is available in the Submission System
Standard application form (HE RIA, IA)
Evaluation form templates — will be used with the necessary adaptations
Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA)
Model Grant Agreements (MGA)
Call-specific instructions
Additional documents:
HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 1. General Introduction
HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 6. Civil Security for Society
HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 15. General Annexes
HE Framework Programme 2021/695
HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764
EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509
Decision authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme
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
Online Manual is your guide on the procedures from proposal submission to managing your grant. Horizon Europe Programme Guide contains the detailed guidance to the structure, budget and political priorities of Horizon Europe. Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ – find the answers to most frequently asked questions on submission of proposals, evaluation and grant management. Research Enquiry Service – ask questions about any aspect of European research in general and the EU Research Framework Programmes in particular. National Contact Points (NCPs) – get guidance, practical information and assistance on participation in Horizon Europe. There are also NCPs in many non-EU and non-associated countries (‘third-countries’). Enterprise Europe Network – contact your EEN national contact for advice to businesses with special focus on SMEs. The support includes guidance on the EU research funding. IT Helpdesk – contact the Funding & Tenders Portal IT helpdesk for questions such as forgotten passwords, access rights and roles, technical aspects of submission of proposals, etc. European IPR Helpdesk assists you on intellectual property issues. CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk and ETSI Research Helpdesk – the European Standards Organisations advise you how to tackle standardisation in your project proposal. The European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for their recruitment – consult the general principles and requirements specifying the roles, responsibilities and entitlements of researchers, employers and funders of researchers. Partner Search help you find a partner organisation for your proposal.
Raw budget overview
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