Estonian defense industry companies or research institutions submitted 17 proposals for the European Defence Fund’s proposal call this year – a new record – the Ministry of Defense said.
Projects with Estonian participation are focused on cyber situational awareness, tank system software, green energy in shipping, and drone defense.
In total, companies and institutions are planning to participate in 20 international projects. The Ministry of Defense will also provide €1.08 million in funding.
Tiina Uudeberg, undersecretary for defense planning at the ministry, said it is important that Estonia’s defense industry is internationally attractive, competitive, and contributes to providing solutions.
“We want to be a good partner for research institutions and companies in the European Defense Fund’s call for applications, and the government is also prepared to contribute,” she said in a statement.
In total, 236 applications were submitted across Europe, 76 percent more than in the 2022 call. The EU has allocated €1.2 billion in funding.
Separately, the Ministry of Defense is supporting the Estonian-led project “Artificial Intelligence Deployable Agent (AIDA)”, a consortium of 28 companies/research institutions from 14 EU Member States and Norway.
The project’s aim is to develop an artificial intelligence solution to support cyber defense decision-making.
The winning projects will be selected in the first half of 2024.
The European Union is investing approximately €8 billion in defense research and development between 2021–2027 through the European Defense Fund (EDF).
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