Research actions implemented via actual cost grants

Home Funding Calls for proposals Quantum secured tactical networks Quantum secured tactical networks EDF-2026-RA-CYBER-QSTN Topic Call for proposal Internal navigation General information Topic description Topic updates Conditions and documents Budget overview Partner search announcements Start submission Topic Q&As Get support General information Programme European Defence Fund (EDF) Call Research actions implemented via actual cost grants (EDF-2026-RA) Type of action EDF-RA EDF Research Actions Type of MGA EDF Action Grant Budget-Based [EDF-AG] Open For Submission Deadline model single-stage Opening date 11 February 2026 Deadline date 29 September 2026 17:00:00 Brussels time Topic description Scope: The next generation of tactical military networks are being developed using software defined radio solutions and software defined network solutions to provide secure and resilient communications against cyberattacks. More agile and flexible than traditional approaches, these solutions make it much easier to integrate additional devices, including mobile devices, and innovative technologies into military networks such as quantum key distribution, post-quantum cryptography and physical unclonable functions. In particular, quantum key distribution aims to provide a higher level of trust in information sharing and cyber defence operations by ensuring that all intrusions and hacking attempts are detected in real time using quantum principles. Building on previous and ongoing EDF R&D activities in this area, this topic aims to develop software defined network technologies and solutions for a network architecture framework based on quantum technologies that will provide EU armed forces with a technological edge in secure tactical networks. Beyond defence technologies, this topic also contributes to the STEP objectives as defined in the STEP Regulation in the target investment area of deep and digital technologies. Targeted types of activities: Generating and integrating knowledge, studies and design. Indicative budget: EUR 14 000 000 for this topic under the EDF-2026-RA call. Indicative number of proposals to be funded: One proposal is to be funded for this topic. However, depending on the quality of the proposals submitted and the budget available, more than one proposal may ultimately be funded for this topic. Show more Topic updates 10 August 2026 On 13 July 2026, the European Union and Ukraine signed the Association Agreement on the participation of Ukraine in the European Defence Fund (EDF). This Association Agreement will formally enter into force once the Parties have notified each other of the completion of their respective internal procedures necessary for that purpose. When the Association Agreement will enter into force, legal entities established in Ukraine will become eligible as beneficiaries and subcontractors involved in the actions supported by the EDF under the conditions laid down in Regulation (EU) 2021/697. In the meantime, Ukrainian legal entities may already apply and be considered as consortium members for the EDF Calls for proposals for 2026. For more information see QnA. 12 February 2026 The submission session is now available for: EDF-2026-RA-AIR-A4R, EDF-2026-RA-MCBRN-DST, EDF-2026-RA-PROTMOB-FMLA, EDF-2026-RA-SIMTRAIN-MSAI, EDF-2026-RA-SENS-MSDT, EDF-2026-RA-CYBER-QSTN, EDF-2026-RA-UWW-FUWN Show more Topic conditions and documents Conditions 1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout described in section 5 of the call document. Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System. 2. Eligible Countries described in section 6 of the call document. 3. Other Eligible Conditions described in section 6 of the call document. 4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion described in section 7 of the call document. 5a. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes described section 8 of the call document and the Online Manual. 5b. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds described in section 9 of the call document. 5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement described in section 4 of the call document. 6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants described in section 10 of the call document. Call document and annexes: Call document Application form templates Standard application form (EDF) — the application form specific to this call is available in the Submission System Detailed budget table (EDF RA) Participant information (EDF) List of infrastructure, facilities, assets and resources (EDF) Actual indirect cost methodology declaration (EDF) Ownership control declaration Ownership control guarantee PRS declaration (EDF) Model Grant Agreements (MGA) EDF, ASAP and EDIRPA MGA Additional documents: EDF Annual Work Programme EDF Regulation 2021/697 EDF Programme Security Instruction (PSI) Guidelines on FSTP implementation - WP2026 EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509 Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement Show more Budget overview Topic Budget year : 2026 Stages Opening date Deadline Contributions Indicative number of grants EDF-2026-RA-AIR-A4R - EDF-RA EDF Research Actions EDF-2026-RA-CYBER-QSTN - EDF-RA EDF Research Actions EDF-2026-RA-SENS-MSDT - EDF-RA EDF Research Actions EDF-2026-RA-MCBRN-DST - EDF-RA EDF Research Actions EDF-2026-RA-PROTMOB-FMLA - EDF-RA EDF Research Actions EDF-2026-RA-SIMTRAIN-MSAI - EDF-RA EDF Research Actions EDF-2026-RA-UWW-FUWN - EDF-RA EDF Research Actions 110 000 000,00 € Single-stage 11 February 2026 29 September 2026 Items per page: 10 50 100 Showing 1–1 of 1 Partner search announcements 47 Searches of partners to collaborate on this topic View / Edit LEARs, Account Administrators or self-registrants can publish partner requests for open and forthcoming topics after logging into this Portal, as well as any user having an active public Person profile. Start submission Need help? To access the Electronic Submission Service, please click on the submission-button next to the type of action and the type of model grant agreement that corresponds to your proposal. You will then be asked to confirm your choice, as it cannot be changed in the submission system. Upon confirmation, you will be linked to the correct entry point. To access existing draft proposals for this topic, please login to the Funding & Tenders Portal and select the My Proposals page of the My Area section. Please select the type of your submission: EDF Research Actions [EDF-RA], EDF Action Grant Budget-Based [EDF-AG] Start submission Topic Q&As56 item(s) found General FAQ Under EDF, is it possible to participate in the same call more than one time in different roles? Yes, it is possible to participate in the same call in more than one proposals, as long as the proposals are different. Under EDF, can the same Ownership control declaration be reused for multiple proposals—provided that the document remains valid and has been signed recently? The new Ownership Control Declaration (OCD) template requires information on the proposal. Moreover, as a novelty, there is a separate template to be filled in for the part on the gu... Under EDF detailed budget table annex, the "Add line" buttons are missing in some of the costs categories after a certain number of WP have been added, preventing us from filling in the detailed sheet per BE/AE. Why is this? This happens when applicants using Office 365 do not activate the "Compatibility option" in Excel parameters, leading to floating buttons and errors in the generation of buttons. Thi... I am a mac user. When filling in the EDF detailed budget table, I get an error during validation and export before the files are exported. What should I do? Once the error happens, click ok to close the error message and then save manually the file using the following name convention [TOPIC_ID]_[ACRONYM_OF_PROPOSAL]_dbt: 1) first as an x... Under EDF, how does the new Ownership Control Declaration need to be filled in in case of an entity subject to non-EU control? And if the entity is subject to Norwegian Control? When submitting a proposal, the participating entities (Beneficiaries, Affiliated entities, Subcontractors involved in the action, and associated partners) must fill in the new owner... Under EDF, are purchase costs/cost of equipment acquired from outside EU/Norway eligible? Yes, as long as the equipment to be used in the action by the beneficiary is located on the territory of a Member State or of an associated country for the entire duration of the act... Under EDF, does the SME self-assessment have to be completed prior to submission and is it obligatory to do so before the deadline for all beneficiaries, or can it be finalised during the preparation of the grant agreement? The SME self-assessment on the Participant Registry (Funding & Tenders Portal account > My Organisations > Actions > Modify Organisation > SME tab > Start SME self-ass... Under EDF, what are capability requirements and technical specifications? Capability Requirements: These describe what the end-user wants a capability to achieve, without considering the technical details. In other words, it outlines the desired outcome fr... Under EDF, if an entity is based in EU and has a subsidiary which it controls 100% in a third country, is work done in the third country location an eligible cost and is there a difference if the work is done by EU or third country nationals? The work done in the third country subsidiary is not eligible for EDF funding, regardless of the nationality of the workers. The framework conditions for the eligibility of legal ent... Under EDF, what is defined as equipment and what depreciation rate should be applied? Purchases of equipment, infrastructure or other assets used for the action must all be declared as depreciation costs, calculated on the basis of the costs actually incurred and writ... Under EDF, does depreciation always apply to the eligible cost for the equipment or is it possible to request the total price of the equipment, especially when this equipment is used in the context of prototyping? As a general rule, only depreciation costs are eligible under EDF. In development actions (DA calls) where prototyping activities are eligible, the Commission may exceptionally accep... Under EDF, how, by whom and when are dissemination levels determined? The successful proposals invited to the Grant Agreement Preparation after evaluation will undergo a security scrutiny to determine the classification level of the foreground informat... Under EDF, when starting the online submission process, should I add subcontractors in step ‘Participants’? In the submission process, when you reach the step ‘Participants’, you are invited to indicate only the beneficiaries (referred to as ‘Partners’) and, if any, affiliated entities and... Under the EDF calls, if I declare that there is ‘no control’ or ‘no change’ in the Ownership and control declaration, shall I still fill in the tables in this declaration? Yes, even if you declare “no control” or “no change”, the tables in the declaration have to be filled in. Under EDF, we would like to declare Actual Indirect Costs in our proposal. The declaration requires at least 2 examples of similar projects where we used the method described in the document. Since it is our first time, we do not have any. What do we do? In order to declare actual indirect costs instead of the ordinary 25% flat rate, you must comply with the two conditions established by art. 15.2 of the EDF Regulation: you need to s... Under EDF, are there specific site security requirements that a company must meet to participate in projects that are not classified, in p [... συνέχεια στην επίσημη πρόσκληση]