As part of the flagship European grant programme BraveTech EU, applications have opened for the DefTech Forges technology challenges — a series of offline competitions for selected defence startups competing for €120,000 grants and potentially further funding of up to €750,000.
The Ministry of Defence announced the programme.
Ukrainian manufacturers and companies from European Union countries developing defence and dual-use technologies at TRL 4+ are eligible to apply.
The programme aims to identify and fund new technological solutions for the needs of the Ukrainian frontline and to strengthen Europe’s defence capabilities.
- Applications are open until 6 September inclusive.
- An independent panel of military and technical mentors will then select the 40 strongest solutions.
- The finalists will be divided into two groups of 20 teams and invited to two offline DefTech Forges events, expected to take place on 9–13 November in Germany and Romania. Manufacturers will be able to test their technologies in practice and receive direct feedback from military personnel.
- Six winners — three at each event — will receive €120,000 grants.
The winning teams will then have the opportunity to undergo further testing with the European Defence Agency (EDA) and receive grants of up to €750,000.
The five DefTech Forges challenges are:
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Hardware and software guidance systems for missiles and UAVs — multi-mode guidance, including passive, semi-active and active systems.
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Autonomous strike UAVs — “smart” loitering munitions, FPV platforms and decentralised swarm coordination with minimal operator involvement.
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Modular UAV systems — rapid payload changes and mission reconfiguration.
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Detection systems — sensors and sensor systems.
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EW-resistant UAV platforms and flight controllers.
Brave1 will help assess applications after the submission period closes, while its leading experts will join the judging panels during the trials in Germany and Romania.
Detailed competition rules and applications are available on the BraveTech EU portal.