The Spanish defence industries and dual-use technologies have obtained a very good result in the first call from Brussels for access to European Defence Fund (EDF) grants

European Defence Fund showers hundreds of millions on more than 40 R&D projects with Spanish participation

photo_camera PHOTO/EU - The European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Frenchman Thierry Breton, is of the opinion that European cooperation in defence matters means that by spending collectively we spend better

The Spanish defence industries and dual-use technologies have obtained a very good result in the first call from Brussels for access to grants from the European Defence Fund (EDF), which rewards the best collaborative projects.
 
Forty-two of the 61 multinational consortia that have been awarded EDF contributions include one, two, three, four or even five large, medium or small Spanish companies, and there are even universities, such as those of Alcalá, Coruña, Murcia, Seville, Zaragoza and the Polytechnic University of Madrid. Brussels has highlighted the presence of SMEs, which are present in 43 & of the winning initiatives, to which 18% of the aid is dedicated.

fondos-airbus

The end result is that more than 60 national companies and institutions will receive a whole raft of funds from the nearly 1.2 billion euros - exactly 1.167 billion euros - that the European Union has earmarked to finance cooperative research and development (R&D) projects in the defence sector. The specific amounts will be known towards the end of the year, when Brussels signs the final contracts with each of the consortia. Their experience in international projects has underpinned their success at the European level.
 
The national champion is Indra, which is involved in 19 different projects and has managed to "align all the key proposals with its business strategy", he says. Its CEO, Ignacio Mataix, describes the result as a "resounding success" and the "increasingly critical role that digitalisation plays in the evolution of the defence sector".
 
A project led by Indra to which the Spanish technology company attaches great importance is Eu-Guardian, which is dedicated to applying artificial intelligence to detect and respond to cyberattacks. It involves the University of Murcia, two entities from Italy, two from Bulgaria, one from Estonia, Lithuania and Poland, as well as Airbus CyberSecurity from France. The entire project is funded with €13.46 million.

exito-matrix

For large, small and medium-sized companies 

GMV is involved in seven projects, Navantia in six, Sener Aeroespacial and the National Institute for Aerospace Technology (INTA) in five. Airbus Defence and Space España and Instalaza are involved in three each. Escribano Mechanical & Engineering, Integrasys, the Tecnalia Foundation, Tecnobit and Thales Programas participate in two consortia. Aragon's Arpa is also part of two industrial clusters. In one of them - whose acronym is Nomads - it plays a leading role in developing technologies for storing energy systems that can be used on the battlefield.  
A consultancy firm specialising in coordinating the capabilities of different companies and a university stand out for having managed to lead the three projects they have presented. Gerardo Sánchez Revenga, president of the Asociación de Empresas Contratistas con las Administraciones Públicas (AESMIDE), highlights the two achievements of Ghan, a small consultancy firm that for years has been responsible for managing the clothing provided by 13 companies to the Spanish Army

leopard-pons

Gahn coordinates the work of three other Spanish companies, two Italian companies and one Romanian company to develop the Mi Sharp project, which will try to develop a new training path in tactics, techniques and procedures for helicopters. In another initiative (Sholfeas), Gahn is leading the work of two other Spanish companies, two Italian companies and one Slovenian company to develop a new family of shoulder-fired portable missile and rocket launchers, including their simulation equipment. 
 
The University of Zaragoza, together with institutions from Germany, France, Italy and Slovenia, aims to launch the Enlighten project, which consists of realising disruptive technologies for use in electro-optical detection devices that make it possible to visualise scenes behind obstacles. The first wave of Brussels funding is concentrated in 15 areas. The lion's share goes to the future next-generation combat system NCWS/FCAS, which, due to its great relevance and tractor effect, is worth 189.8 million euros in aid. 
 
The second area with the second largest amount of funds is ground combat, which has 154.7 million euros. With four projects approved, one of them is Commands (24.84 million), led by Sener Aerospace. Santa Bárbara Sistemas, Indra and companies from Germany, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden are contributing. It aims to develop capabilities for intelligent and cooperative ground systems, both manned and unmanned. 

navantia-fondo
Spending better collectively

The third place on the podium goes to three projects linked to naval combat, for which 103.5 million euros have been earmarked. Navantia is present in all of them, taking the lead in Edinaf, which has a budget of 29 million euros and is dedicated to developing the architecture of a digital ship and the standardisation of its interfaces. 
 
Indra, Aertec Solutions, the University of Coruña and 25 other companies from Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands are participating in Edinaf. Navantia also has a strong presence in the European corvette initiative, which is coordinated by the Italian shipyard Fincantieri, one of the partners of the Franco-Italian strategic partnership Naviris, which is also part of the project. 

fondo-galileo

The fourth largest volume - 100 million euros - is for missiles and air defence. The only programme approved to cover this field is headed by the Spanish company Sener Aeroespacial, which coordinates the work of companies of the importance of the German Diehl, the Norwegian Nammo and the Swedish Ruag Space, together with the Spanish companies Escribano, GMV, Instalaza, INTA and Navantia.
 
Overall, projects in these four R&D areas accounted for 548 of the EUR 1.167 billion, or almost half (46.96%) of the total funds awarded. The other 11 areas supported by Brussels are energy and environment (82.8 million); information superiority (70 million); digital transformation (68.5 million); disruptive technologies (64.5 million).
 
Completing the chapter are the areas dedicated to devising medical responses to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons (57.8); space (49.4); mobility and protection (49.1); sensors (38); cyber (37.9); and materials and components, to which 34.6 million have been allocated. A final cross-cutting area is non-thematic calls for innovative and future-oriented defence solutions, to which 66.7 million euros have been allocated

ue-exito-pons

In the first call, 142 R&D projects from as many industrial consortia were submitted, but only 61 were selected, with French industry predominating. The second call for proposals opened at the end of May and will close in December and is worth €924 million. For Thierry Breton, the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, European cooperation in defence matters means that "by spending collectively, we spend better (...) regardless of the size of industries and states".

More in Politics