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Grant Analysis

Purpose & Target

Core objective: To increase the maturity of enabling technologies to enhance the performance and effectiveness of armoured land platforms, making them more capable, modular, multifunctional, and energy-efficient, with a focus on qualification and certification of system-level solutions.
Target recipients: Entities capable of forming or participating in EU business consortia in the defence technology and industrial base (EDTIB).
Grant is SECTOR-SPECIFIC focusing on defence, particularly ground combat capabilities and land platforms.
Geographic scope: Organizations from EU Member States and EDF Associated Countries.
Key filtering criteria: Focus on land platforms, modularity, green technologies, military standards (e.g., STANAGs), and enhancing EU defence capabilities.
Grant frequency: Part of the annual EDF-2025 work programme.

Financial Structure

Total budget available for this specific topic (EDF-2025-DA-GROUND-FM2LP) is EUR 79,000,000.
The grant type is 'Development actions implemented via actual cost grants,' meaning funding covers verifiable incurred costs.
Co-financing requirements: A Cofinancing declaration is a required document, indicating that co-financing (applicant's own contribution) is necessary. The exact percentage is not specified in the provided text but would be detailed in the call document (section 10).
Eligible costs: Costs related to mandatory activities such as studies, design, system prototyping, testing, qualification, certification, and development of efficiency-increasing technologies.
Ineligible costs: Activities aiming to create, underpin and improve knowledge, products and technologies (generating knowledge) are explicitly listed as 'No' for eligible activities.
Indirect cost policies: An Actual indirect cost methodology declaration (EDF) is a required document, implying indirect costs are eligible based on a declared methodology.
Financial guarantees: Requirements are described in section 10 of the call document.

Eligibility Requirements

Organizational Type and Legal Structure

Specific eligible organization types are not detailed in the provided text, but EDF grants typically target a wide range of legal entities (companies, research organizations, public bodies, etc.) that contribute to the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB).
Consortium: Mandatory. Proposals must be submitted by EU business consortia including entities from EU Member States and EDF Associated Countries.

Geographic Requirements

Participants must be established in EU Member States or EDF Associated Countries. Specific list of eligible countries is described in section 6 of the call document, which is not provided.

Capacity and Experience Requirements

Financial and operational capacity: Required, described in section 7 of the call document.
Track record: Implied by the need to develop, qualify, and certify advanced defence technologies.

Technical Requirements

Technical expertise: Required in areas related to land platforms, green technologies, systems engineering, military vehicle design, and relevant military standards (e.g., NATO Generic Vehicle Architecture (NGVA), STANAGs).
Infrastructure: Necessary for system prototyping, testing, qualification, and certification of defence products.

Exclusion Criteria

Exclusion criteria are described in section 7 of the call document.

Application Process

Application Timeline and Deadlines

Application opening: 2025-02-18.
Submission deadline: 2025-10-16 00:00:00+00:00.
Review process timeline: Indicative timeline described in section 4 of the call document.

Application Procedure

Submission model: Single-stage procedure.
Submission platform: Electronic Submission Service via the Funding & Tenders Portal.
Access existing drafts: Login to the Portal and navigate to 'My Proposals'.

Required Documentation and Materials

Standard application form (EDF) specific to this call (available in Submission System).
Detailed budget table (EDF DA).
Participant information (EDF).
List of infrastructure, facilities, assets and resources (EDF).
Cofinancing declaration (EDF DA, DA LS AND ASAP).
Actual indirect cost methodology declaration (EDF).
Harmonised capability declaration (EDF DA AND DA LS).
Declaration on procurement intent and common specifications (EDF DA AND DA LS).
Ownership control declaration.
PRS declaration (EDF).

Post-Award Requirements

Legal and financial set-up of the grants are described in section 10 of the call document.
Reporting obligations: Implied by 'actual cost grants' and general grant management, though specific schedule is not detailed here.

Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation criteria, scoring, and thresholds are described in section 9 of the call document, which is not provided.
However, the 'Expected Impact' section provides strong indications of what will be highly valued:
Contribution to the 2023 EU Capability Development Priority “Ground Combat Capabilities,” specifically “Next Generation Manned and Unmanned Armoured Platforms” and “Modular and Multifunctional Systems of Systems for Effective Land Capabilities.”
Ability to provide EU Member States and EDF Associated Countries with means to integrate qualified/certified platforms to reach Initial Operation Capability (IOC).
Acceleration of EDTIB capacity for qualification and certification.
Solutions for future system of systems needs, including holistic life cycle fleet management, readiness systems, and personnel training.
Enhancement and integration of desired technological building blocks for future vehicles and improvement of in-service military vehicle fleets.
Solutions that reduce environmental and logistic footprints, including the elimination or limitation of environmentally toxic substances.
Establishment of competitive EU business consortia for global markets, maximizing cost-effectiveness and scale-effects, and stimulating industrial cross-border cooperation.
Reduction of dependence on non-EU technologies and products, increasing EU’s Security of Supply of armoured vehicles and related systems.
Quality Thresholds: Proposals must address mandatory activities including studies, design, system prototyping, testing, qualification, certification, and development of efficiency-increasing technologies.
Cross-cutting themes: Emphasis on green technologies and environmental footprint reduction.

Compliance & Special Requirements

Regulatory Compliance

Military standards: Proposed products and technologies should adhere to relevant military standards, e.g., STANAG 4569/AEP 55 for protection, STANAG 4686 for Active Protection Systems (APS), STANAG 4586, STANREC 4818 for manned/unmanned integration.
Systems engineering: Activities should follow ISO/IEC 15288(2023) processes or similar with tailored conformance.
EU Financial Regulation: Compliance with EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509.
EDF Regulation: Compliance with EDF Regulation 2021/697.
Security: Compliance with EDF Programme Security Instruction (PSI).

Ethical Standards

Autonomous functions within weapon stations must meet normative and ethical requirements.

Data Protection and Privacy

Compliance with Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement.

Risk Management

Proposals must include tasks to define and perform necessary quality assurance, configuration and risk management processes.
Identification and analysis of potential Security of Supply bottlenecks and strategies to reduce risks for subsystems/components shortages.

Environmental Compliance

Strong emphasis on green technologies to reduce environmental and logistic footprints.
Opportunities to eliminate or limit environmentally toxic substances should be explored.

Intellectual Property Policies

Not explicitly detailed in the provided text, but typical for EDF grants, IP ownership usually remains with the beneficiaries, with certain access rights for the EU/Member States for defence purposes.

Special Considerations

Consortium requirement: Mandatory collaboration between entities from different EU Member States and EDF Associated Countries.
Synergies: Proposals must substantiate synergies and complementarity with activities in EDIDP-2020-GCC and EDF-2021-GROUND-D-FMGV.
Functional requirements: Detailed functional requirements cover mobility, modularity, drivetrains, survivability, interoperability (including C4 functions), situational awareness, engagement, and life cycle support.
Cyber resilience: Platforms should be cyber resilient and provide cybersecurity.
Classified data: Capability to ensure C2 functions for classified data (up to SECRET level) is expected.
Innovation: Encouragement of new technological solutions and integration of most modern technologies.
Low signatures: Platforms should have low visual, thermal, electromagnetic, acoustic, and radar signatures.
Circular approaches: Consider circular approaches for materials and components to address supply chain risks.

Grant Details