EU programmes · European Commission (DG DEFIS)
Short-term instrument created after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine to partially reimburse Member States buying defence equipment jointly. Five projects, in air and missile defence, ammunition and other urgent capabilities, each received €60 million, exhausting the €300 million call budget. EDIRPA was designed to last until 2025 and is succeeded by EDIP's common procurement actions.
Wound down; the demand-aggregation channel it pioneered now runs through EDIP common procurement calls in October 2026 and February 2027.
European Commission (DG DEFIS), with EUSPA and the EIF
Space is treated as dual-use across EU funding; CASSINI gives space-defence start-ups an equity pipeline and visibility instruments that stack with EDF and EUDIS applications.
European Investment Fund with the European Commission, under InvestEU
Not a programme you apply to as a company, but it determines which European VCs have fresh defence-mandated capital; track its fund commitments to know who can actually write you a cheque.
European Investment Bank Group
Debt, not grants: the EIB now finances defence companies that banks still avoid, and venture debt from its one-stop shop can extend runway without dilution once you have revenue or strong contracts.