Ammunition, missiles and other explosive weapons

Scope: Topic scope: Raising awareness of and building capacity for the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (CERV-2026-CHAR-LITI-CHARTER) The Charter strategy underlines the importance of strengthening the application of the Charter through awareness raising and capacity building initiatives. Accordingly, projects under this priority are intended to raise the fundamental rights knowledge of relevant actors. While building on the central role of civil society organisations and human rights defenders, funded projects could involve national, regional and local authorities as partners (co-applicants), with the aim of supporting joint capacity building and awareness raising efforts. The projects funded under this priority should address the capacity building and awareness raising needs on the Charter. In particular, relevant projects should focus on raising awareness and building capacity on at least one of the following topics: the Charter in general and/or the contents of an individual Charter right or several of the fundamental rights enshrined in the Charter; the Charter’s scope of application; the remedies available in cases of breaches of the Charter rights. In accordance with its…

Expected Outcome: The targeted outcomes reflect the above challenges and cover a comprehensive Front End module design which: Covers the FR3 range as defined by the relevant Agenda Item of WRC 27 (7 to 15 GHz range) with possible extension up to 24 GHz if required by some regional implementations, with inherent tuning capabilities to accommodate potential regional variations. Mitigates interferences with incumbent FR3 band users and maximises sharing capabilities across the band in line with the European regulatory approach on spectrum sharing. Enables integration of a large number of antenna elements beyond the State of the Art and support massive MIMO implementation with compensation of increased path loss compared to 5G FR1 implementations. Enables at least an order-of-magnitude increase in RF processing compared to 5G FR1 implementations. Enables 5G cell site reuse and minimises deployment complexity on top of 5G sites deployment. Enables low-cost and low energy implementation of the elementary constituent modules, efficient packaging and is mainly based on the integration of microelectronics heterogeneous technologies where European industry has strong expertise and…

Expected Impact: Projects funded under this call are expected to deliver tangible industrial outputs that demonstrably advance the readiness and affordability of future governmental Ka-band user terminals for IRIS2 and GOVSATCOM services. Expected outputs include, for example: qualified production processes, calibrated sub-assemblies, pilot-run units, validated manufacturing equipment chains or manufacturing cost models. Purely analytical deliverables (studies, design reports) are not sufficient as primary outputs but may complement the above. Where relevant, outputs shall include documented design assumptions, interface parameters or process specifications enabling adaptation to different terminal configurations with limited re-engineering, so as to support uptake in follow-on integration, pilot deployment and scale-up activities. Objective: The aim of this call for proposals is to advance the industrial readiness of European Ka-band user terminal technologies, subsystems and manufacturing processes, with a view to enabling cost-effective production of user terminals for services provided under the Union secure connectivity programme (IRIS²) and GOVSATCOM. The target reference…

Expected Outcome: Objectives and profile of the ERC Plus Grant Principal Investigator The ERC Plus Grant supports outstanding Principal Investigators who address a major scientific challenge. Applications for ERC Plus Grants should be for projects that could not be carried out with a regular ERC grant. Applicants should explain how the proposed project aims go beyond those of a regular ERC project, for example, because they have a vision to transform their field or open a new field of research. Scholars at all career stages can apply for an ERC Plus Grant if they have an outstanding record of scientific achievement at the forefront of their field. Their intellectual leadership will be evaluated in comparison to peers at their own career stage. It is expected that a researcher may be the Principal Investigator of only one ERC Plus Grant in their lifetime. Applicants should be aware that every year, only some 30 ERC Plus Grants can be awarded across all fields and all career stages, compared to approximately 1000 Starting, Consolidator and Advanced Grants. This level of competitiveness should be taken into account when considering whether to submit an application. Size of ERC Plus…

Expected Outcome: The proposals under this topic should address the design/specification and implementation/testing of the key microelectronics building blocks of an FR3 FEM paving the way towards their future integration into a complete integrated FEM system. • Progresses the State of the art to optimise the cost-performance trade off to serve the target ITU IMT 2030 specifications, notably for what concerns maximum data rate, user data rate, spectral efficiency, whilst enabling 50% mobile transmission system energy consumption; • Allows operational implementation of spectrum sharing with other spectrum users within the selected FR3 sub-band; • Enables large arrays integration for increased path loss compensation at FR3 frequencies with very compact, low power, high efficiency FEM integration; • Enables high bandwidth for carrier aggregation with broadband RF transceivers; • Enables SBFD (Sub-Band non overlapping Full-Duplex) for UL coverage extension (Rel.-19 5G-Advanced in 3GPP) with appropriate interference cancellation techniques; • Enables ISAC (Integrated Sensing and Communications) supporting monostatic as well as bistatic radar functionality, and addressing interference…

Expected Outcome: Europe's first long-term VET provider network for semiconductors; a larger and more diverse pool of qualified technicians; and increased intra- and extra-EU mobility of students and workers to fill skills gaps in semiconductor facilities. Scope: This call supports the establishment of a European-level federation of Vocational Education and Training (VET) providers focused on semiconductor industry roles. Projects should develop industry-aligned micro-credentials and reskilling programmes, with a strong emphasis on workers transitioning from other industrial sectors and on cross-border recognition of qualifications.

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 for the targeted ammunition, bombs and missiles production lines, enabled by operational joint filling plants and production lines; • measurable reduction of production lead time from order/production decision to delivery in UA; • improved timely availability and supply of defence products for UA, including increased delivery reliability and readiness of production lines; • effective cross-border cooperation between UA and EU that enables production ramp-up, qualification, integration and sustainment. Proposals shall define, baseline and track KPIs such as: filling throughput (e.g., units/month or tonnes/month as applicable), time-to-rate, lead-time reduction, line availability/uptime, acceptance/qualification output, qualified output delivered in UA, workforce trained where relevant, and indicators evidencing risk mitigation (e.g., safety performance and compliance readiness, supply robustness…

Expected Impact: The results of the activities should contribute to support common procurement, leading to strengthening the cooperation among Member States and associated countries, as well as to greater interoperability. Furthermore, they should contribute to the replenishment of depleted stockpiles of counter-drone systems, to the increase of existing stockpiles or to establishment of defence industrial readiness pool, as well as to the development and reinforcement of counter-drone solutions as drones are being increasingly perceived as a pressing threat. Objective: This topic aims at actions supporting the common procurement of integrated systems (e.g. VSHORAD or SHORAD) or parts thereof (including sensors, kinetic or non-kinetic effectors - including direct energy weapons -, command and control solutions) to counter unmanned aerial, ground, surface or underwater vehicles, including those controlled remotely or operating autonomously using advanced software and sensors. Scope: Common procurement actions under this topic shall consist of activities related to the cooperation of legal entities in the procurement of integrated counter-drone systems or parts thereof, at any point…

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: • tangible capacity increases in EU-based production enabling the ramp-up of the targeted platforms or end-products, with demonstrated contribution to competitiveness ; • improved resilience & geographical distribution of supply and industrial capability, reducing single points of failure across forging/machining, key sub-systems, composites and assembly/integration; • strengthened availability and security of supply of the targeted platforms or end-products with identified risks and exposure to the risk of materialisation of conventional military threats; • and measurable lead-time reductions , establishment or availability of reserved capacity where applicable, and workforce traine d to operate and sustain the reinforced production lines (including, where relevant, MaaS and dual-use conversion pathways). Proposals shall define, baseline and track KPIs such as added throughput (e.g., units/month of platforms/end-products or critical sub-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 t imely 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…