Drone-based affordable mass munitions

Expected Impact:The outcome should contribute to:

• Improve engagement capabilities by extending the range and precision of land-based precision strike capabilities, delivered in a massive way.
• Gain technological superiority for deploying affordable Loitering Munitions and small UCAS, for defeating conventional adversary targets.
• Foster the integration of Ukrainian war lessons learned into EU defence industry products.
• Enhance EDTIB capabilities to mass produce effective Loitering Munitions and small UCAS.
• Reduce non-EU dependencies in the field of Loitering Munitions and small UCAS.
• CDP priority Land Based Precision Engagement.
• Increase the opportunities for various smaller actors in the defence sector established in the EU, EDF Associated Countries or Ukraine - including those not previously active in the defence sector, to adapt and apply innovative technologies for defence applications- and promote technological edge in the field.

Increase opportunities and future involvement for third parties in the field of ground combat capabilities, within tasks described previously in the call text under “Conditions related to FSTP”.

Expected Outcome:As it is related to EUDIS, and in addition to the development activities, this call topic aims to support innovation opportunities and enable small companies to demonstrate innovative technologies relevant to drone-based affordable mass munitions and receive limited acceleration support. To achieve this objective, financial support to third parties (FSTP, i.e., cascade funding) is included as part of the grant. This should increase the opportunities for various smaller actors, including those not previously active in the defence sector, to adapt innovative technologies for drone-based affordable mass munitions and to identify potential business opportunities in the defence sector.

Objective:The war in Ukraine demonstrates the need for a massive use of ammunition in the battlefield to defeat a conventional adversary in a high-intensity warfare scenario. Besides regular artillery ammunition, loitering munitions (including, e.g., First Person View (FPV) drones) equipped with warheads and other type of Unmanned Combat Aerial Systems (UCAS) have proliferated on the battlefield. The use of such new types of effectors, particularly if deployed in massive scale, have become a force multiplier with substantial impact in the ground operations.

The current degraded international security situation in Europe calls for the development of affordable effectors, in terms of precision and mass, with particular interest on Loitering Munitions and small UCAS and the necessary industrial adaptation for their mass production.

Most of the Loitering Munitions and small UCAS research and development activities have been taking place outside EU and only recently the interest in these capabilities has increased. EU Member States’ and EDF Associated Countries’ armed forces need modern capabilities based on both Loitering Munitions and small UCAS, which can be produced and deployed at scale to gain battlefield advantage.

Thus, the EU Member States and EDF Associated Countries must quickly set conditions to develop and deploy affordable technological solutions for Loitering Munitions and small UCAS, alongside with the ramp-up of production of conventional munitions, such as 155mm artillery rounds.

Furthermore, such solutions should benefit from Ukrainian firsthand experience from the battlefield and integrate innovative approaches.

Specific objective

This call topic aims to study, design, develop, prototype and test new generation of affordable mass munitions for ground combat indirect fire. Solutions should predominantly focus on affordable loitering munitions and small UCAS operating for tactical and/or operational level effects. It should be possible to use these systems in massive quantities in the battlefield, preferably with swarm capability. Such solutions should be possible to manufacture at scale and at the speed of relevance to ensure battlefield superiority against a conventional adversary.

To better integrate experience and innovations resulting from the Ukrainian battlefield, the consortium is requested to reach out to third parties across the EU, EDF associated countries and Ukraine, in particular SMEs and start-ups. Funding for the financial support to third parties (FSTP) is an integral part of the awarded grant. The consortium is required to organise at least one call to third parties to select and award start-ups and SMEs to bring open innovation to the project. The selected third parties are offered the opportunity and financial support to demonstrate and test their solutions and receive support services for further improving such solutions, in a specific period.

This aims to strengthen possibilities to involve smaller players that would otherwise not have the means to access EDF actions, thereby further enhancing innovation capacity and competitiveness of the European Defence Industrial and Technological Base (EDTIB).

Scope:The scope concerns Loitering Munitions and small UCAS for tactical and/or operational level effects. Loitering Munition is to be understood as a munition able to remain over a designated area seeking for targets and be assigned/reassigned for selective engagement of one of them. Small UCAS are to be understood as recoverable unmanned aircraft able to carry and drop lethal payloads for tactical and/or operational level effects and return to the launch or other dedicated position after their mission.

It is expected that each submitted proposal must tackle at least one of the following solutions:

• 5-10 km short range loitering munition or small UCAS against infantry and other soft and armoured targets.
• 10-50 km mid-range loitering munition or small UCAS against soft and armoured targets.
• 50-200 km long range loitering munition or small UCAS against soft and armoured targets.

Proposals must address:

• Affordable technologies for autonomous flight control, autonomous target acquisition and autonomous engagement capability (including lethal payloads that are easily integrable into the platform, safely handled, and designed for maximum performance), with meaningful human control.
• Ability to operate in heavily contested electronic warfare environment.

In addition, proposals should address:

• The possibility to be assisted by machine learning/Artificial Intelligence (AI).
• Technologies for collaborating/swarm capabilities with other Loitering Munitions and small UCAS.
• Designs that are easily upgradeable (e.g., by use of modularity and standards) to utilise technological development and adjust to changes in the operating environment.
• Study and design of payloads with smart target seeking and fuze features using new or already existing technologies.

Furthermore, proposals may address:

• Integration into current battle management systems using relevant standards.

Proposals must not address:

• Fully autonomous weapon systems.

Furthermore, the proposals must describe how FSTP is planned to be used in the project and how entities with relevant expertise is expected contribute to their implementation.

Types of activities

The following types of activities are eligible for this topic:

Types of activities

(art 10(3) EDF Regulation)

Eligible?

(a)

Activities that aim to create, underpin and improve knowledge, products and technologies, including disruptive technologies, which can achieve significant effects in the area of defence (generating knowledge)

No

(b)

Activities that aim to increase interoperability and resilience, including secured production and exchange of data, to master critical defence technologies, to strengthen the security of supply or to enable the effective exploitation of results for defence products and technologies (integrating knowledge)

Yes

(optional)

(c)

Studies, such as feasibility studies to explore the feasibility of new or upgraded products, technologies, processes, services and solutions

Yes

(mandatory)

(d)

Design of a defence product, tangible or intangible component or technology as well as the definition of the technical specifications on which such design has been developed, including partial tests for risk reduction in an industrial or representative environment

Yes

(mandatory)

(e)

System prototyping of a defence product, tangible or intangible component or technology

Yes

(mandatory)

(f)

Testing of a defence product, tangible or intangible component or technology

Yes

(mandatory)

(g)

Qualification of a defence product, tangible or intangible component or technology

Yes

(optional)

(h)

Certification of a defence product, tangible or intangible component or technology

Yes

(optional)

(i)

Development of technologies or assets increasing efficiency across the life cycle of defence products and technologies

Yes

(optional)

Accordingly, the proposals must cover at least the following tasks as part of mandatory activities:

• Studies: • Feasibility studies concerning identified technologies and their manufacturing possibilities for mass production, including security of supply of critical components and raw materials.

• Design: • Preliminary definition and design of the proposed components and technologies for Loitering Munition and small UCAS.
• Detailed definition of the proposed components and technologies.
• Design activities concerning identified technologies and its manufacturing possibilities for mass production, taking into consideration security of supply of critical components and raw materials.

• Prototyping: • Creation of the weapon system based on the technological solutions identified.
• Following the track of keeping the cost of the prototype reasonable (purpose to execute for mass production).
• Develop technology, which matches TRL 7.

• Testing: • Testing of the defence technological solution or mature product in the relevant environment.

In addition, the proposals should cover the following tasks:

• Integrating Knowledge: • Analysis and integration of Ukrainian war lessons learned, in particular the use of Loitering Munitions and small UCAS in the different warfare scenarios.
• Identification and assessment of technological solutions that can be produced in mass and at an affordable cost.

Concerning the implementation of the FSTP, the proposals must cover the following tasks:

• Organise at least one call for FSTP in support of the mandatory activities: studies, design, prototyping or testing.
• Prepare documentation, organisation, selection, and award of recipients of the FSTP call. • Select and award of recipients of FSTP.

• Provide technical mentoring for the recipients of FSTP.
• Provide the third parties with necessary knowledge on doing business in defence domain, in particular with respect to protection of IPR, IPR strategies, export control and other specificities of the defence sector.
• Provide networking and cooperation activities between the EDTIB and third parties, as well as the establishment of additional measures to support the business case and innovative ideas of recipients of FSTP within the scope of the call topic.
• Describe how the support to recipients of FSTP may be contributing to development and analysis of current and future CONOPS and tactics, analysis support and red teaming, war-gaming and testing activities in relevant conditions or other tasks deemed relevant for the proposal.

The proposals may seek synergies and complementarity with activities in the field of unmanned aircraft systems, notably those described in the call topic EDF-2024-DA-C4ISR-SEEU-STEP related to Small enhanced European UAS, EDF-2024-LS-RA-CHALLENGE-SENS-RADNP related to multi-sensor integration for robust autonomous drone navigation, and EDF-2024-RA-GROUND-IWAS related to intelligent weaponry and ammunition systems.

Functional requirements

The proposed technologies and future product should meet the following functional requirements:

• The range of 5-10 km, with the appropriate flight duration time, for short range loitering munition or small UCAS.
• The range of 10-50 km, with the appropriate flight duration time, for mid-range loitering munition or small UCAS.
• The range of 50-200 km, with the appropriate flight duration time, for long range loitering munition or small UCAS.
• Easily useable and applicable to tactical actions (e.g., with minimised/sub-unitary number of operators per shot required for Loitering effectors/munitions and small UCAS).
• Systems based on existing and available sensors and/or mature new sensor technologies to achieve the desired effects.
• Capability to improve system performance based on collection and analysis of system data from operations (e.g., by use of machine learning and/or AI, if suitable for the expected application).
• Possibility of integration in existing and future Command and Control and Battle Management Systems, for receiving and providing target data and Battle Damage Assessment.
• Affordable cost in mass production, especially when compared to precision-guided weapons, with similar range and effects.
• Communication link resistant to enemy electronic warfare systems detection, location and jamming.
• Ability to navigate in a GNSS denied environment.
• Swarming capability, to combine munitions in strike packages including with deception dummies. The aim is to overwhelm and degrade opponent’s air-defence and have more efficient kill effect.

In addition, the FSTP includes the following specific requirements:

• • The consortium should: • Organise at least one call for third parties selecting target of minimum 3 and up to 10 entities. Each recipient of FSTP should be supported with up to EUR 60 000 for a maximum of a 6-month long period.
• Provide the third parties with the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge, technologies, capabilities, and products.
• Foster the possibilities for future involvement of these third parties in the European defence community.

• The proposals should clearly delineate the expected contributions from the main beneficiaries as well as from the recipients of FSTP, to ensure their coherence and impact.
• Concerning the organisation of FSTP, the proposals should include a description of: • • The method for calculating the exact amount of the financial support requested by the third parties.
• The payment arrangement options to third parties.
• The possible types of activities for which a third party may receive financial support.
• The potential results to be obtained.
• The roles and responsibilities of the consortium with regard of the management of FSTP.