European Commission allocates more than $1B for defense projects

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - The European Commission on Thursday said that it allocated more than €1 billion (more than $1.04 billion) for defense research and development projects.

The European Defense Fund (EDF) supports the development of critical defense technologies and capabilities required in line with the EU capability priorities, a commission statement said.

It said that a budget of around or more than €100 million addresses future challenges in the fields of ground combat, space, and air combat as well as energy resilience and environmental transition.

"Furthermore, more than €40 million of EU funding is allocated to R&D efforts in critical areas in the current and future operational context, such as cyber, naval combat, underwater warfare, simulation and training, advanced passive and active sensors," the statement added.

It highlighted that 4% of the EDF 2025 budget is dedicated to a call addressing disruptive technologies; in addition, around 6% is devoted to two non-thematic calls on innovative and future defense solutions.