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From €142 million to €1 billion ($1.1 billion) per year. The European Commission is stepping up its investment in weapons and defence technologies. From a total of €590 million invested between 2017 and 2020, Brussels has moved on to a €7.3 billion ($7.9 billion) package for the period 2021-2027. This year alone, total investment in weapons and defence technologies has increased. European Defence Fund (EDF) The Ministry of Defence has launched 1.1 billion euros, divided into 34 calls for tenders for as many military-related research topics. From the development of new drone models to sensors to increase the capabilities of radars. From systems to counter attacks with hypersonic missiles to improvements in the analysis of images collected by satellites. From “smart weapons” to advanced communication technologies. The tendering process opened at the end of June and there is time until November 5 to share a slice of the pie… and then a year to deliver the project.
The common defence project has distant origins and was formalised in 2015, but it was The Russian invasion of Ukraine The Eurodrone programme, which has accelerated the European Commission’s march towards spending on weapons, ammunition and military technology, has been the first step in giving Brussels an idea of what it is looking for: just look at the list of projects competing for funding in 2024. The project includes €100m to develop a new long-range, medium-altitude drone equipped with advanced intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (or Istar) systems and piloted remotely. The EU has already invested in a similar project, allocating €98m of the €290m needed to develop a similar aircraft, dubbed Eurodrone, to a consortium made up of France’s Airbus and Dassault Aviation, plus Italy’s Leonardo. Another €11m from the EDF is earmarked for a prototype of a small, autonomously guided aerial drone.
Telecommunications and AI
A large part of the resources is allocated to strengthening communication and data exchange channels, to prevent, for example, someone from taking over the controls of the remote-controlled drone. EDF allocates 25 million euros to a 5G network intended for the military field, The same amount will be allocated to satellite communications prototypes and 24 million euros to the development of systems dedicated to underwater drones. The information needed to feed algorithms and automatic analysis tools will have to be transmitted through these secure channels. A grant provides 45 million euros for an artificial intelligence software prototype that would allow automated means and operations centres operated by real personnel to communicate with each other.
According to an article by Anthony King, a professor at the University of Exeter, published in the Journal of Global Security StudiesUntil now, in the military realm, “AI has not been primarily used to produce robotic or autonomous weapons systems. Over the past two decades, the military has sought to leverage big data to generate a richer and deeper understanding of the battlefield by tracking the footprints left in cyberspace by its adversaries. Because there is such a vast amount of digital data in cyberspace, the military has begun to harness the potential of AI, algorithms, and machine learning to identify patterns and signatures, thereby improving their awareness and ensuring that crucial pieces of information are not missed.”
This is a model that European investments are also following. Last year, EDF supported a communications model to control swarms of autonomous vehicles with 4 million euros, and another part was allocated to strengthening submarine cables, Internet backbone and military targetTo ensure that data collected from space “speaks” and provides an accurate, real-time representation of potential risks, there is a €157 million project, Led by Leonardo, Airbus and ArianeGroup (aerospace company), to integrate information into a single platform, following in the footsteps of two previous projects. But if we add up all the intelligence programs through sensors, satellites and other digital sources, the 2023 plan alone has deployed another 70 million euros in the matter. With another 6 million, the EU is also trying to protect against communications blackoutssupporting an Estonian-led plan for drone navigation technology that works even without satellite signals, based on real-time analysis of what the machine sees.
New weapons
But the European Defence Fund is also on the hunt for prototypes of new weapons: €25 million for the next generation of armoured vehicles, €30 million for the creation of smart and increasingly precise weapons and €20 million to identify at least four possible solutions for drone navigation in “non-permissive” environments, i.e. war zones or those characterised by great instability.
Another 50 million euros will go towards the creation of a new ground drone, equipped with “lethal functions”. What kind? This is best explained in Annex to the Commission’s green light for the EDF 2024It says the programme aims to study a “fully autonomous targeting process and solutions for mobility and combat” but also to produce an analysis of the “ethical and legal aspects of integrating autonomous combat drones into European armed forces.” With a clarification: “If necessary, research should be included to support recommendations and decisions” on these aspects. As in: Give us material to make the case.
In the case of smart weapons, on the other hand, the EU calls for greater precision of missiles and rockets, but also speaks of “loitering munitions”, i.e. suicide drones, which fly over a defined area until they locate the target and hit it, shooting it down – a controversial military technology. The EU is also interested in Copying the Iron Dome model, Israel’s anti-missile shield.
Tanks and corvettes of the future
Shortly before opening the new calls for proposals, the Commission also announced the 54 winning projects for the 2023 programme. These include: Marsor Europe’s main armoured tank, a programme to develop new technologies to be integrated into a tank. The €20 million in funding is being shared between some 40 companies, including the two defence champions from Italy and Germany, Leonardo and Rheinmetall respectively. The same amount has been received for a similar project, again to update the tank’s architecture, which the French Such Instead, it is taking the initiative. €154 million from Brussels will help finance the roughly €288 million needed to develop the new EU patrol corvette. (Epc2), with the Italian Fincantieri among the project leaders. Another 25 million euros are earmarked for the construction of a prototype of a 12-metre-long autonomous boat that moves on hydrofoils (i.e. with its hull out of the water).
Leonardo is leading a project The aim is to develop anti-aircraft systems for military drones, taking advantage of sensors, disruptions in telecommunications networks and other technologies. Meanwhile, France’s Cilas is leading a programme to develop Europe’s first laser weapon. backed by 25 million euros. TO prototype electromagnetically propelled missile launcher The project has raised €4 million, of which €26 million will go to an artificial intelligence agent designed to autonomously manage protection and counterattack in response to cyber aggression, €80 million will go to a study on defence against hypersonic weapons, another €27 million will go to the creation of a new missile system with a range of 150 kilometres, €40 million will go to a military cargo ship and €44 million will go to offensive technologies in underwater drones.
Funds and alliances
But the channels for feeding the European military industry are diverse. Alongside the EDF, there is Eudis, a €2 billion programme over a seven-year period that supports the acceleration of start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (target: 400 per year). There is also the European Investment Fund (EIF), managed by the European Investment Bank (EIB), which helps finance the defence sector, particularly when it comes to dual technologies (civilian and military). Its aim is to act as a key investor, thus attracting other players willing to share the risk, but it has €175 million to spend by 2027. The European Security Industry Bank can mobilise another €8 billion, also in the next three years.
Seven contracts have already been signed, including €10 million for Germany’s Quantum Systems for vertical takeoff drones, €30 million for Spain’s Skydweller for its solar-powered autonomous aircraft, and €600 million for two space communications programmes. Italy’s Leonardo also benefited from EIB loans, which provided €260 million for research and development activities in various technological fields.
