The European Commission has begun signing grant agreements for 62 defence research and development projects under the 2024 European Defence Fund (EDF), deploying close to €1 billion in EU funding, the executive said on Tuesday.

The projects involve more than 600 entities from EU member states and Norway, spanning areas such as air and missile defence, drones and counter-drone systems, sensors, artificial intelligence and military mobility, the Commission said.

Participants include major European defence groups Diehl Defence, Saab, Hensoldt, Nammo and GKN Fokker Aerospace, alongside smaller companies, research institutes and universities working in multinational project groupings.

The EDF, the EU’s flagship defence research programme, is a central pillar of Brussels’ push to strengthen Europe’s defence industrial base and reduce strategic dependencies as security concerns linked to Russia intensify and questions arise about American reliance.