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Grant Analysis

Purpose & Target

The core objective of this grant is to design, develop, and build a demonstrator of a radiocommunication system known as the Multifunctional Information Distribution System (MIDS).
This system is intended to provide critical defence capabilities, focusing on enhancing Communication, Navigation, and Identification (CNI) for air, land, and maritime tactical operations.
The target recipients are legal entities involved in defence research and development, likely larger organizations or research institutions, collaborating in a consortium.
This is a SECTOR-SPECIFIC grant, specifically targeting the defence and C4ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance) sector.
The geographic scope includes EU Member States and 'EDF associated countries' (non-EU EEA countries).
Key filtering criteria for initial screening include: deep and digital defence technologies, consortium requirement, focus on MIDS/C4ISR interoperability, and EU/EDF associated country establishment.
This grant is part of the European Defence Fund (EDF) and contributes to the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP) objectives. It is a recurring program within the annual EDF work programme.

Financial Structure

Total budget allocated specifically for the 'EDF-2025-RA-C4ISR-MIDS-STEP' topic is EUR 39,000,000.
The funding rate for Research Actions (RA) under this call is 100% of eligible costs.
Equipment costs are eligible only for depreciation; full purchase cost is NOT covered.
The grant operates on an 'actual cost' basis, meaning costs incurred must be directly related to the project and properly documented.
There are no explicit matching fund requirements stated, given the 100% funding rate.
Financial capacity checks will be performed for beneficiaries requesting grant amounts over EUR 60,000 (unless they are public bodies or international organizations).
Prefinancing guarantees may be required.
Financial reporting arrangements are referenced as being detailed in section 10 of the call document (content not provided).
Actual indirect cost methodology declarations are required if applicants use actual indirect costs; otherwise, a default flat rate will be applied.

Eligibility Requirements

Organizational Type

Legal entities (public or private bodies) are eligible.
Natural persons are NOT eligible, with the exception of self-employed persons (sole traders) where the company does not have a separate legal personality.
International organizations are NOT eligible, unless their members are exclusively EU Member States or EDF associated countries, and their executive management structure is located in an EU Member State or EDF associated country.
Entities without legal personality may exceptionally participate if their representatives can undertake legal obligations on their behalf and offer guarantees equivalent to legal persons.
Associations and interest groupings may participate as 'sole beneficiaries' or 'beneficiaries without legal personality'; if the action is implemented by their members, those members must also participate as beneficiaries or affiliated entities.

Geographic Location

Applicants must be established in one of the eligible countries: EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs)) or non-EU EEA countries designated as 'EDF associated countries'.
The executive management structure of applicants must be established in an eligible country.
Applicants must not be 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.
Infrastructure, facilities, assets, and resources used for the project must be located or held in an eligible country. Exceptions apply under specific conditions for assets not readily available in eligible countries.

Consortium Requirements

Proposals MUST be submitted by a minimum of 3 independent applicants (beneficiaries; not affiliated entities) from 3 different eligible countries.
Subcontractors 'involved in the action' (direct contractual relationship to a recipient, or allocated >=10% of eligible costs, or require access to classified information) and associated partners must also comply with establishment and control conditions.
Associated partners not established in eligible countries or controlled by non-associated third countries may participate exceptionally if certain conditions are fulfilled (e.g., no contravention of EU/MS security interests, no funding received under the grant).

Project Scope Eligibility

The proposal's content must correspond wholly or at least in part to the topic description.
The project must implement the objectives set out in Article 3 of the EDF Regulation.
The project must concern new defence products or technologies, or the upgrade of existing ones.
The project must relate to at least one of the types of activities set out in Article 10(3) of the EDF Regulation.
The project MUST cover the mandatory activities specified for this topic in section 2 of the call document: Studies (e.g., risk mitigation, life-cycle-cost-analysis, CONOPS definition) and Design (e.g., module design, manufacturing ability, laboratory functional testing).
Projects that concern products/technologies whose use, development, or production is prohibited by international law are NOT eligible.
Projects developing lethal autonomous weapons are excluded, except for 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/entity (including via technology transfer) are NOT eligible if it impacts the results.
Projects must comply with EU policy interests and priorities (e.g., environment, social, security, industrial, trade, values).

Technical and Operational Capacity

Applicants must demonstrate sufficient know-how, qualifications, and resources to successfully implement the project, including experience in comparable projects.
This capacity is assessed based on the general profiles of staff and the description of the consortium participants. Public bodies and Member State organizations are exempt from this check.

Exclusion Criteria

Applicants are ineligible if subject to EU restrictive measures, EU conditionality measures (e.g., certain Hungarian public interest trusts), or if they are in situations such as bankruptcy, breach of social security/tax obligations, grave professional misconduct, fraud, corruption, or if they have misrepresented information or resisted an investigation.

Application Process

Application Timeline

Call Opening: 18 February 2025
Application Deadline: 16 October 2025 – 17:00:00 CET (Brussels time)
Evaluation Period: October 2025 - April 2026 (indicative)
Grant Agreement (GA) Signature: By 31 December 2026 (indicative)

Application Process and Materials

Applications must be submitted electronically via the Funding & Tenders Portal Electronic Submission System.
Paper submissions are NOT accepted.
Required documentation includes:
Application Form Part A (completed directly online, covers administrative information and summarised budget).
Application Form Part B (technical description; template downloaded, completed, then uploaded as a single document). Part B has a strict page limit of 100 pages (including work package descriptions).
Mandatory Annexes (templates downloaded, completed, and uploaded with Part B):
- Detailed budget table/calculator (EDF RA format).
- Participant information (including any previous projects).
- List of infrastructure, facilities, assets, and resources.
- Actual indirect cost methodology declarations (if applicable).
- Ownership control declarations (required for all beneficiaries, affiliated entities, associated partners, and subcontractors involved in the action).
- PRS declaration (if the project requires access to Galileo PRS information).
All mandatory annexes must be in PDF format unless otherwise specified.
The amounts in the online summarised budget table (Part A) must match the detailed budget table; online amounts prevail in case of discrepancies.
Applicants must confirm their mandate to act for all participants and verify the correctness and completeness of information at submission.

Project Implementation

Project Duration: Between 12 and 48 months (extensions possible if duly justified and approved via amendment).
Reporting Obligations: Specific reporting and payment arrangements are referenced as being in section 10 of the call document (details not provided).
Key Milestones and Deliverables: Referenced as being in section 10 of the call document (details not provided).

Application Assistance

Support is available via:
Contact email: [email protected]
EDF Info-days 2025
Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ (for submission issues).
IT Helpdesk (for technical issues: passwords, access rights, submission system).
Online Manual (step-by-step guide for proposal preparation and Portal processes).

Evaluation Criteria

The call document explicitly states that 'Award criteria, scoring and thresholds described in section 9 of the call document' but the actual content of Section 9 is missing from the provided document. Therefore, specific scoring factors and weights cannot be detailed. However, based on the 'Expected Impact' and 'Objectives' outlined for this topic (EDF-2025-RA-C4ISR-MIDS-STEP), proposals will likely be evaluated on their ability to contribute to the following: - Strategic Alignment and Sovereignty: - Improving EU sovereignty and autonomy for EU Member States' and EDF Associated Countries' Armed Forces. - Reducing dependencies on non-EU suppliers. - Boosting the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB) and promoting EU defence solutions. - Enhancing Europe's resilience and technological sovereignty. - Technical Excellence and Innovation: - Designing, developing, and testing a demonstrator of a European Fighter MIDS (F-EMIDS) terminal with an innovative Software Communication Architecture (SCA). - The demonstrator's performance must exceed or be at least comparable to existing systems at its entry into service. - Adherence to mandatory activities: Studies (e.g., configuration setup, risk mitigation, life-cycle-cost-analysis, CONOPS) and Design (e.g., module design, manufacturing ability, laboratory functional testing). - Meeting specified functional requirements, including Link 16 datalink transmission/reception, TACAN capability, future airborne stealth Waveform (WF) capability, and compliance with Software Defined Radio (SDR) SCA standards. - Interoperability and Collaboration: - Enhancing C4ISR interoperability between EU Member States' and EDF Associated Countries' armed forces and other partner Nations. - The mandatory multi-beneficiary consortium (at least 3 independent applicants from 3 different eligible countries) implies strong emphasis on collaborative approaches and potentially cross-border cooperation effectiveness. - Impact and Feasibility: - The project's feasibility and potential for successful implementation within the defence operational context. - The overall significance of the proposed solution in responding to future security challenges and reducing critical dependencies.

Compliance & Special Requirements

Regulatory Compliance

Projects must comply with the highest ethical standards and all applicable EU, international, and national laws.
The regulatory framework includes EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509, EDF Regulation 2021/697, and STEP Regulation 2024/795.

Ethics and Security

All proposals will undergo an ethics review to authorize funding. Specific ethics rules and deliverables (e.g., ethics committee opinions) may be required.
Projects involving classified information will undergo security scrutiny. A Security Aspects Letter (SAL) will be annexed to the Grant Agreement.
Projects classified 'TRES SECRET UE/EU TOP SECRET' (or equivalent) cannot be funded.
Information classified 'CONFIDENTIEL UE/EU CONFIDENTIAL' or above (and 'RESTREINT UE/EU RESTRICTED' if required by national rules) can only be created/accessed on premises with Facility Security Clearance (FSC) from the competent national security authority.
Access to classified information requires valid Personnel Security Clearance (PSC) and a need-to-know basis.
Subcontracting tasks involving classified information requires prior written approval from the granting authority.
Beneficiaries must ensure projects are not subject to third-country/international organization security requirements that could affect implementation or grant award.
Any potential security issues must be immediately notified to the granting authority.

Intellectual Property and Technology

While not detailed in the provided sections, intellectual property policies will be governed by the Model Grant Agreement (referenced in Section 0).
The project specifically requires the design, development, and testing of a demonstrator with an innovative SCA (Software Communication Architecture).
Functional requirements mandate compliance with Software Defined Radio SCA standards and include hardware constraints (mechanical, thermal, interference protection, security for F-EMIDS radio and WFs).

Risk Management

Mandatory activities include identifying, analyzing, and mitigating critical technical risks, especially concerning overall integration and certification.

Strategic and Unique Considerations

This topic contributes to the objectives of the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP), specifically in the target investment area of deep and digital technologies.
A key objective is to reduce dependencies on non-EU manufacturers and ensure EU sovereignty in the strategic area of Multifunctional Information Distribution Systems (MIDS).
The European Commission may decide that successful projects are managed by entrusted entities such as the European Defence Agency (EDA) or OCCAR.
Business coaching will be offered to successful SME beneficiaries.
Financial support to third parties by beneficiaries is NOT allowed.
Proposals will be evaluated based on how they address 'must' (mandatory), 'should' (positively impacts scoring), and 'may' (further positive impact) requirements outlined in the Scope and Functional Requirements sections.
Projects must describe complementarities with other EU-funded projects.
Projects must align with EU policy interests, priorities, and values.

Grant Details