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Grant Analysis

Purpose & Target

Grant Purpose and Target

To develop a long-range stand-off anti-submarine warfare (ASW) engagement capability from sensor to effector, enhancing the survivability of surface warships against modern submarines and large unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs).
Explicit identification of target recipient type: Legal entities, specifically the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB), including SMEs and mid-caps, and public bodies.
MUST state if grant is SECTOR-SPECIFIC.
Geographic scope: Organizations established in EU Member States and EDF Associated Countries (EEA). Project activities and key assets must be located in these countries.
Key filtering criteria for initial grant screening: Focus on anti-submarine warfare, unmanned systems, sensor/effector integration, defence applications, and collaborative projects. Mandatory consortium.
Grant frequency: Part of the annual EDF-2025-RA call for research actions, indicating a recurring program context.

Financial Structure

Funding type: Actual cost grants for Research Actions (RA).
Funding rate: 100.0% of eligible costs.
Budget for this topic (EDF-2025-RA-UWW-SOASW) is estimated at EUR 20,000,000.
Eligible costs: Covered by the EDF Regulation and Model Grant Agreement. Specific rules apply, e.g., equipment costs are reimbursed based on depreciation only.
Indirect costs: Applicants can use actual indirect costs but must provide an actual indirect cost methodology declaration; otherwise, a default flat rate applies.
Co-financing: Not explicitly stated as a percentage requirement, but applicants must demonstrate stable and sufficient resources to contribute their share.
Payment mechanisms: Governed by the Model Grant Agreement (MGA) and Annotated Grant Agreement (AGA).
Financial reporting: Required as per grant agreement terms.
Audit requirements: Standard EU grant audit requirements apply.
Financial guarantees: Prefinancing guarantees may be requested if the financial capacity of an applicant is not deemed satisfactory.

Eligibility Requirements

Organization Type and Structure

Must be a legal entity (public or private body).
Must have executive management structure established in an eligible country.
Not subject to control by a non-associated third country or non-associated third-country entity, unless approved guarantees are provided by the Member State or EDF associated country where they are established.
Natural persons are NOT eligible, with the exception of self-employed persons (sole traders) where the company does not have legal personality separate from the natural person.
International organizations are NOT eligible, unless they are international organizations whose members are exclusively EU Member States or EDF associated countries AND whose executive management structure is in an EU Member State or EDF associated country.
Entities without legal personality may exceptionally participate, provided their representatives can undertake legal obligations on their behalf and offer equivalent guarantees for EU financial interests.
All subcontractors involved in the action (direct contractual relationship to a beneficiary/affiliated entity, or >= 10% of total eligible costs, or needing classified information access) and associated partners must also comply with these establishment and control conditions.
Entities subject to EU restrictive measures or conditionality measures (e.g., specific Hungarian public interest trusts) are NOT eligible.

Geographic Location

Established in one of the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway.
Project activities must take place in these eligible countries.
Infrastructure, facilities, assets, and resources used must be located or held in an eligible country. Exceptions apply only if certain conditions are fulfilled (no readily available competitive substitutes, consistent with EU/MS security and defence interests, no control/restriction by non-associated third countries/entities, subject to granting authority agreement, and no funding provided for such external assets).

Consortium Requirements

Mandatory multi-beneficiary application.
Minimum of 3 independent applicants (beneficiaries, not affiliated entities) from 3 different eligible countries.

Project Scope and Exclusions

The content of the application must correspond wholly or at least in part to the topic description for which it is submitted.
Projects NOT eligible include:
- Those that do not implement the objectives set out in Article 3 of the EDF Regulation.
- Those that do not concern new defence products or technologies or the upgrade of existing ones.
- Those that do not relate to at least one of the types of activities set out in Article 10(3) of the EDF Regulation.
- Those that do not cover the mandatory types of activities specified for this topic (Generating Knowledge, Integrating Knowledge, Studies).
- Those that concern products and technologies whose use, development, or production is prohibited by international law (e.g., lethal autonomous weapons without the possibility for meaningful human control).
- Those where background or results would be subject to control or restriction by a non-associated third country or non-associated third-country entity.
Projects must comply with EU policy interests and priorities (e.g., environment, social, security, industrial, trade policy, values, reputational matters).
Financial support to third parties is not allowed.

Financial and Operational Capacity

Applicants must demonstrate stable and sufficient resources to successfully implement the projects and contribute their share.
Operational capacity (know-how, qualifications, resources, experience) will be assessed based on the competence and experience of applicants and their project teams. Public bodies, Member State organizations, and international organizations are exempt from this check.

Application Process

Application Timeline

Call opening: 18 February 2025.
Submission deadline: 16 October 2025 at 17:00:00 CET (Brussels). This is the latest deadline available.
Evaluation period: October 2025 - April 2026.
Notification of evaluation results: April 2026.
Grant Agreement signature: By 31 December 2026.
Project duration: Between 12 and 48 months. Extensions are possible if duly justified and approved via amendment.

Submission Process

Applications must be submitted electronically via the Funding & Tenders Portal Electronic Submission System.
Only one project application per topic is allowed. If applying for multiple topics, a separate proposal must be submitted for each.
Proposals (Part B) are limited to a maximum of 100 pages, including work package descriptions; evaluators will not consider additional pages.
Applicants must confirm they have the mandate to act for all participants and that information is correct and complete at submission.

Required Documentation and Materials

Application Form Part A: Contains administrative information and a summarised budget (filled in directly online).
Application Form Part B: Technical description of the project (template to be downloaded, completed, and re-uploaded).
Mandatory Annexes (templates to be downloaded, completed, and re-uploaded with Part B):
- Detailed budget table/calculator (EDF RA).
- Participant information (including any previous projects).
- List of infrastructure, facilities, assets, and resources.
- Actual indirect cost methodology declarations (if actual indirect costs are used).
- Ownership control declarations (for beneficiaries, affiliated entities, associated partners, and subcontractors involved).
- PRS declaration (if the project requires access to Galileo PRS information).
Important: The summarised budget in Part A must correspond to the detailed budget table. Discrepancies default to Part A.
A Declaration of Honour (DoH) will be required from each beneficiary and affiliated entity before grant signature.

Application Assistance

Support is available via [email protected].
IT Helpdesk is available for technical issues (e.g., forgotten passwords, access rights, submission technicalities).
The Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual provides a step-by-step guide.

Evaluation Criteria

Relevance and Strategic Alignment

Proposals will be evaluated on how well they address the general and specific objectives of the call, particularly concerning stand-off anti-submarine warfare (ASW) engagement.
Adherence to the specified 'must', 'should', and 'may' requirements in the Scope and types of activities and Functional requirements sections. Failure to address a 'must' may lead to the proposal being considered out of scope; failure to address a 'should' may negatively impact scoring; addressing a 'may' may positively impact scoring.

Quality of the Proposal

Soundness of the proposed preliminary system design and demonstration plan for a stand-off ASW engagement capability.
Thoroughness of the investigation into different combinations of sensor systems, delivery systems, and effectors.
Quality of feasibility studies on Very-Lightweight Torpedoes (VLWT) and Ultra-Lightweight Torpedoes (ULWT) for long-range ASW, Unmanned Underwater (UW) sensor suites, and deployment via Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs).
Rigor of the cost-benefit analysis and market/technology analysis conducted.
Feasibility and ambition of the proposed technology roadmap for the development of the capability.

Expected Impact

Contribution to incentivizing the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB) to invest in innovative stand-off ASW engagement capabilities.
Potential to reduce development risk for the EDTIB.
Potential to reduce time to market of the required capability.
Contribution to greater flexibility for procurement and reduced integration, certification, and storage footprints for navies of EU Member States and EDF Associated Countries.
Presence of a clear plan for moving towards a full-fledged capability solution.
Demonstrated complementarity and avoidance of unnecessary duplication with other ongoing cooperation activities and projects in the same domain.

Quality and Efficiency of Implementation

Clarity, coherence, and feasibility of the implementation plan, including how mandatory and additional tasks will be performed.
Strength and composition of the consortium, ensuring the mandatory minimum of 3 independent applicants from 3 different eligible countries.
Demonstrated operational capacity of the applicants (unless exempt).
Adherence to core functional requirements, such as system deployability from various platforms (frigates, Large UxVs, helicopters), installability on missile launching systems (NATO standards), day/night/all-weather operability, engagement range exceeding 40 nautical miles, interoperability within a sensor-to-effector chain, and NATO accreditation.
Consideration of ethical standards and security requirements throughout the project implementation.

Compliance & Special Requirements

Regulatory and Ethical Compliance

Projects must adhere to the highest ethical standards, including research integrity, and comply with all applicable EU, international, and national laws.
All proposals will undergo an ethics review; funding may be conditional on specific ethics rules and deliverables.
Projects must be consistent with EU policy interests and priorities (e.g., environment, social, security, industrial, trade policies) and respect EU values and Commission policy on reputational matters.
Financial support to third parties is explicitly not allowed.

Security Requirements

Projects involving classified information will undergo security scrutiny.
Projects involving information classified as TRES SECRET UE/EU TOP SECRET (or equivalent) are not eligible for funding.
Classified information at classification levels CONFIDENTIEL UE/EU CONFIDENTIAL or above (and RESTREINT UE/EU RESTRICTED if national rules require) may only be created or accessed on premises with Facility Security Clearance (FSC) from the competent national security authority (NSA), handled in an accredited secured area, and accessed by persons with valid Personnel Security Clearance (PSC) and a need-to-know.
FSC may be required before grant signature.
Subcontracting of tasks involving classified information and disclosure of classified information to third parties require prior written approval from the granting authority.
Beneficiaries must ensure their projects are not subject to third-country/international organization security requirements that could affect implementation or question the grant award.

Project Exclusions and Limitations

Projects are not eligible if they concern products and technologies whose use, development, or production is prohibited by international law.
This specifically includes projects for the development of lethal autonomous weapons without the possibility for meaningful human control over selection and engagement decisions when carrying out strikes against humans (with the exception of developing early warning systems and countermeasures for defensive purposes).
Projects where background or results would be subject to control or restriction by a non-associated third country or non-associated third-country entity are not eligible.

Grant Details