Unmanned systems and counter-unmanned systems

Expected Impact:

Projects are expected to deliver results aligned with the expected results set out in this call topic and to evidence their contribution through dedicated KPIs defined in the proposal. Expected results include:

• demonstrable and sustainable increase in production capacity in UA for the targeted (counter-)UxS-related production lines;
• measurable reduction of production lead time from order/production decision to delivery in UA;
• improved timely availability and supply of defence products in UA, including increased delivery reliability and readiness of production lines;
• effective cross-border cooperation between UA and EU that enables production ramp-up, integration, qualification and sustainment;
• strengthened Ukrainian industrial base, and, where applicable, operationalised MaaS and dual-use heavy industry conversion pathways for surge.

Proposals shall define, baseline and track KPIs such as: production output (units/month), time-to-rate, lead-time reduction, line availability/uptime, qualified output delivered in UA, MaaS throughput, surge conversion readiness indicators, and workforce trained where relevant—alongside risk-related indicators demonstrating supply robustness and maintainability readiness.

Objective:

This topic aims to reinforce (counter-)UxSs readiness and a sovereign UxSs component base by enabling the rapid industrial reinforcement of Member States and Ukraine for key defence product (including subcomponents) production lines:

• (swarming) UxSs (including FPV variants, modular payload configurations, relay/repeater variants, and AI-enabled/autonomy-enabled UxS integration where relevant) and (swarming) UxS interceptor variants (including intercept solutions to protect critical nodes and logistics routes);

Trimmed here, the full scope, expected outcomes and award criteria are on the official topic page ↗.