EU also boosts marine projects with € 1.2 billion investment plan

On 20 July, the European Commission announced that it would provide EU funding totalling almost €1.2 billion to support 61 joint defence research and development projects. The projects will be selected and the funds made available under the European Defence Fund (EDF). Projects in the field of naval armaments were also selected.

European Defence Fund

Since 2018, the European Defence Fund (EDF) for research and capability development has been intended to promote the competitiveness and innovative capacity of the European defence technology and industrial base and is aligned according to "dimensions". In addition, it was planned to initiate cooperation programmes that would not come about without an EU contribution. In June 2021, the Commission received EDF's first annual work programme, which called for 23 proposals to be drawn up in detail. This year, with the proposals selected for funding, the EDF will support "high-end defence capability projects", such as the next generation of fighter aircraft, tanks and ships, as well as critical defence technologies military cloud, artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductors, space, cyber and medical countermeasures.

Marine projects

Three major naval projects are among this year's grant winners, including the European Patrol Corvette (EPC) project, the European Digital Naval Foundation (EDINAF) project and the Digital Ship Structural Health Monitoring (dTHOR) project.

European Patrol Corvette (EPC)

In 2021, a consortium led by the major defence companies Fincantieri, Naval Group and Navantia submitted an industrial proposal to EDF for the modular multi-purpose patrol corvette (MMPC) to develop a new European patrol corvette. The project, which will receive around 60 million euros, will focus on concept studies up to the first design. The MMPC will serve as a reference ship for a class of corvettes designed to fulfil a variety of missions in future operations.

European Digital Naval Foundation (EDINAF)

Meanwhile, EDINAF, in which Navantia also plays a key role, will receive 29 million euros. The project aims to support the design and development of next-generation smart ships, including the development of a common standard for European supply chains to be applied to naval equipment and operations in the future. In addition, the EDINAF partners want to enable the integration of a joint naval operational cloud as a component of a broader military multi-domain operational cloud. Another focus is on an IT infrastructure and the associated data interface standards.

European Patrol Corvette (EPC) - and open with conical mast. Graphic: Fincantieri

Digital Ship Structural Health Monitoring (dTHOR)

The dTHOR project, worth 14.5 million euros, is to be fully funded by EU grants. The project aims to create a common framework and associated standards to improve the monitoring of the ship's structure using appropriate sensors and massive data exchange. Continuous knowledge of the actual condition of the ship's structure will make it possible to create a "condition-based" maintenance and shipyard plan for the unit. In addition, the technician receives information about the behaviour and stresses on the hull throughout its service life. International participants in the programme include Navantia, Naval Group and thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (tkMS).

Statement

"With €1.2 billion invested in 61 European collaborative defence projects, the European Defence Fund is today delivering concrete results for a more integrated European defence industry, fostering innovation and providing state-of-the-art capabilities to our armed forces," said Thierry Breton, Commissioner for Internal Markets. "Through the European Defence Fund, European defence cooperation is increasingly becoming the norm. We spend better when we spend money together. It benefits all Member States and the European defence industry, large and small," he concluded.