Joint Call Defence 2025

The models of the application as well as the financial annexes to be appended by each partner to the aid application can be downloaded here.

The Directorate of Defence of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Defence, Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, the Ministry of the Economy, the National Research Fund and Luxinnovation join forces to launch a funding opportunity that supports consortia of private companies and public research institutions in conducting R&D projects to develop defence technologies (products, services and systems). 
 

1. Call purpose  

Development and validation of innovative defence solutions that could benefit the Luxembourgish army, international defence organisations (EU, NATO), and defence forces of allied nations. These solutions should aim at being integrated in EU or NATO defence development projects or programmes such as those carried out under the EDA, EDF or NATO frameworks. 
 

2. Objectives 

The joint call intends to provide a financial incentive to applicants who have an identified research or material/technology/product/solution and have to demonstrate its relevance and potential benefit for defence applications (the “project”). Technology transfer from civilian applications is acceptable, insofar as military applications still require a significant RDI effort with significant technical risks. 

Applicants may apply for funding at any steps below, which can be considered as key R&D milestones (TRL 3-7) towards market access for defence applications. 

- Research 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) 

- 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) 

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

- The system prototyping of a defence product, tangible or intangible component or technology enabling the identification of prime contractors (system prototyping) 

Projects shall comprise clear R&D milestones towards defence applications. Due to the specificities of the Defence sector and Luxembourg current positioning within the EU defence industry landscape, commercialising the product immediately after the call is not a requirement, however, identifying the adequate defence value chain and the potential prime contractor while aiming at becoming an acknowledged technology supplier in the EU/NATO defence value chain, will be essential. 

This Joint Call Defence aims at addressing challenges based on the Luxembourg defence priorities as defined in documents such as the:  

- Luxembourg Defence Guideline 2035 

- Luxembourg Cyber Defence Strategy  

- Luxembourg Defence Space Strategy 

Challenges targeted also reflect on the European Defence Agency (EDA)’s 2023 EU Capability Development Priorities and Overarching Strategic Research Agenda (OSRA) or OSRA taxonomy, among others. 

The European Union Defence Industrial Strategy (EDIS), the Strategic Compass for Security and Defence and its 2024 progress report, the EU Action Plan On Synergies between civil, defence and space industries as well as set the contextual framework of this call. 

The call is looking to facilitate the integration of solutions developed in Luxembourg into the EU defence development programme such as the European Defence Fund, as described into the Indicative multiannual perspective 2024-2027.  

Challenges also aim at contributing to the innovation and development carried out under NATO NCIA, NATO ACT, NATO NSPA, or the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, among others.  

The call aims to support the validation and the development technologies that have added value for EU and NATO defence. 
 

3. Call topic 

In line with national, European and NATO defence priorities and strategies, proposals are welcome, but not limited, to the following defence technological categories: 

- Materials,  

- Space,  

- Cyber, 

- Autonomous systems and AI, 

- Circularity in defence 
 

Materials 

For more information on materials in the defence domain, check out for instance the EDA CapTech Materials and Structures website or the NATO Defence-Critical Raw Materials List (2024) and NATO Defence-Critical Raw Materials List or NATO Supply Chain Security Roadmap. 
 

Space 

The EU Space Strategy for Security and Defence as well as the EDA CapTech Space bring more information on space in the defence domain. 

Other strategies are for instance NATO Space Policy and NATO Approach to Space. 
 

Cyber 

For more information on cyber in the defence domain, the EDA CapTech Cyber provides additional information. 
 

Autonomous systems and AI 

Two recent publications of the European Defence Agency provide information on the application of these technologies in the defence domain: Whitepaper: Trustworthiness for Artificial Intelligence in Defence and EDA Action Plan on Autonomous Systems. 

NATO also contributed with a NATO AI Strategy and Autonomy Implementation Plan. 
 

Circularity in Defence 

An overview is provided by the European Defence Agency on its circularity in defence policy background briefing.  
 

4. General eligibility criteria and instruments of the joint call 

4.1. Consortia are expected to include at least one eligible participating company and one FNR-eligible participating public research organization.  
In the consortium, the contribution of the private and public parties should be as close to equal as possible, whereas no party shall bear more than 70% of the total project cost.  
Companies must fulfil the general eligibility criteria of article 1 of the RDI law [1] and the respective criteria of the specific State aid scheme they apply for as set out in the R&D schemes [2].  
Research organizations must be eligible under article 3-(2) of the FNR statute [3] (and be registered at the FNR).  

4.2. The project must be in the field of industrial research [4] and/or experimental development [5] as defined in article 2 of the RDI law, and in line with the call topic. 

4.3. For research and development activities under the joint call for projects, public institutions should comply with the general principles set forth in the FNR Guidelines [6], such as the “Formal requirements to qualify as PI (principal investigator) of an FNR-funded project and/or as supervisor of an FNR-funded PhD candidate”, the “FNR Research Integrity Guidelines”, the “FNR Policy On Research Data Management”, as well as those included in the FNR BRIDGES Programme description. 

The FNR will fund the costs of the eligible public research organizations in Luxembourg, up to 750.000 € per project, covering project-specific costs (see FNR Financial Guidelines for details). 
 
The Ministry of the Economy will co-finance costs borne by Luxembourg-eligible companies up to 1.000.000 € per project, using the R&D aid scheme2. 
 
The maximum co-financing rates for companies through collaboration are as follows: 
  

Maximum aid intensities	Large company	Medium company	Small company
Experimental development	40%	50%	60%
Industrial research	65%	75%	80%

The project duration is a maximum of 36 months continuous period. 
 
Upon justification regarding their liquidity needs, the Ministry of the Economy may give a 30% upfront payment to SMEs leading a project selected in this joint call. For public research organizations, the FNR financial regulations [7] apply. 

The call will fund a consortium of national applicants only.  
Self-funded partners from NATO Members, EU EEA/EFTA States, Ukraine, as well as the following NATO Indo-Pacific Partners: Australia, Japan, Republic of South Korea and New Zealand are permitted to participated in the consortium. 

Under justified conditions sub-contractors from NATO Members, EU EEA/EFTA States [8], Ukraine, as well as the following NATO Indo-Pacific Partners: Australia, Japan, Republic of South Korea and New Zealand, could contribute to the project.  

Employees from companies and research organizations taking part in the project need to have nationalities of a NATO Member Country, from an EU EEA/EFTA Country, from Ukraine or from one of the following NATO Indo-Pacific Partners, Australia, Japan, Republic of South Korea and New Zealand. Applicants will be required to: 

- Provide a narrative CV for the Principal Investigator (PI) (for RPOs only) 

- Provide a list of personnel that is going to work on the project (including their nationalities and work experience; full CV – Europass format) (for companies and RPOs) 

- Sign a declaration of honour, ensuring that in case of the presence of non-NATO or EU EEA/EFTA nationalities, appropriate measures are put in place for safeguarding project related information. 

 

5. Evaluation criteria and scoring system 

The project proposals will be evaluated in a balanced manner based on the following criteria and considering the general considerations formulated under the call topic and objectives: 
 

5.1. Relevance (33,33%) 

This criterion aims to evaluate the quality and the innovative character of the project through the following aspects: 

- project idea; clarity and pertinence of the objectives; 

- level of innovation, including advancements on the state of the art; 

- soundness of the research approach and methodology or technology assessment study; 

- due consideration of ethical and regulatory aspects; 

- scientific and technical maturity of the project; 

- clarity, coherence, and adequacy of the application regarding the theoretical framework, objectives, methodology, work plan, and expected results and impacts; 

- relevance of the defence applications. 
 

5.2. Implementation: quality and efficiency of the project plan (33.33%) 

This criterion is intended to assess the quality and feasibility of the project work plan to ensure its success. The following aspects are taken into consideration: 

- coherence and effectiveness of the work plan, including appropriateness of the allocation of tasks and resources; 

- competencies, experience and complementarity of the individual participants, as well as, of the consortium and collaboration as a whole; 

- the level of ambition of the collaboration and commitment of the participants in the proposed project; 

- appropriateness of the management structures and procedures, quality of the risk management plan and soundness of the risk mitigation plan; 

- development processes shall be based on “security by design” when applicable. 
 

5.3. Impact (33.33%) 

This criterion is intended to assess the potential impacts and contributions of the project. The following aspects are taken into consideration: 

- economic and societal added value of the proposed research and development project in line with national priorities; 

- added value of the proposed research/technology/product/solution for defence purposes; 

- strengthening the competitiveness and growth of involved companies by developing innovations addressing market opportunities in the defence sector; 

- where applicable, soundness of the business plan outlining a clear path towards an economic exploitation of the project results, and to what extent the project can carry on beyond the co-funding period; 

- effectiveness of the proposed measures to exploit and disseminate the project results; 

- where applicable, demonstrate ambition of being recognised as Luxembourgish Tech Provider within EU defence supply chain. 
 

6. Call process 

The Submission and evaluation process will be composed of 1 phase.  
 

6.1. Submission process 

Project application submission open from 15 September 2025 9am to 12 December 2025 11am.
 
Project application to be submitted by each project participant to the Ministry of the Economy (Myguichet platform) for companies and to FNR (FNR Grant Management System) for accredited research organizations. The models of the application as well as the financial annexes to be appended by each partner to the aid application can be downloaded here. 
 
The project application shall provide information on: 

- Detailed description of the research project; 

- Different activities of the project (work packages); 

- Description of the technical challenges and implementation of the project; 

- Description of the expected outcome and the economic impact; 

-- Milestones; 

- Timeline; 

- Resources; 

- Description of costs; 

- Collaboration agreement (draft ready for signature) including agreement on intellectual property [9]; 

- GDPR aspects: data flow and ownership, delegations to data processors. 

Additional documents to be attached to the proposal: 

- Narrative CV for the Principal Investigator (PI) (for RPOs only) 

- List of personnel that is going to work on the project (including their nationalities and work experience; full CV – Europass format) (for companies and RPOs) 

- Financial statements both at the level of the applicant undertaking and if applicable, of the group (2023 and 2024) (for companies only) 

- A signed declaration of honour, ensuring that in case of the presence of non-NATO or EU EEA/EFTA nationalities, appropriate measures are put in place for safeguarding project related information. 

Eligibility check 

It is recommended that, prior to filling out the application templates, applicant companies contact Luxinnovation to get support with regards to the eligibility check - including, but not limited to, financial viability and co-financing capacity. 

Importation and exportation rules 

Each consortia submitting a proposal should contact the Control office for exports, imports and transit (OCEIT) to get support if the technology developed falls under the dual-used importation and exportation rules. 
 

6.2. Evaluation process 

Project applications submitted will be reviewed by an independent expert panel (“panel”) that will assess the project application from a scientific/technical and economic point of view. Based on the criteria set in the *Evaluation criteria and scoring system”, the panel will recommend projects for funding to the granting authorities.  
 
A project can only be funded by a concurring decision of FNR, the Ministry of the Economy, and the Directorate of Defence of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Defence, Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade. 
 
The results of the evaluation will be communicated in April 2026. Projects are expected to start in Mai 2026. 
 
The contracts will be established separately between FNR and the public partners on the one hand, and between the Ministry of the Economy and the private partners on the other hand. These contracts will include IP clauses, which restrict the sale or licensing of intellectual property resulting from the work to prior authorisation by the Directorate of Defence of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Defence, Development Cooperation and foreign Trade. 
 
 

FAQ 

 Questions and answers related to the joint call can be found on the research-industry-collaboration platform (FAQ).  Applicants are invited to consult the FAQ section regularly as there will be constant updates.