The Commission is investing €910 million under the 2024 edition of the European Defence Fund (EDF) to create a strong and innovative defence industry in Europe. These investments aim to close key capability gaps—like force mobility and drone defence—through innovation and collaboration across European science and industry. Moreover, and for the first time, Ukrainian defence industries can be associated to EDF projects.

The strengthened cooperation between the Ukrainian and European defence industries, builds on outreach efforts by the EU Defence Innovation Office in Kyiv to foster closer ties and to further integrate Ukraine into the European defence industrial base, reinforcing shared security and innovation objectives.

These EDF investments will boost Europe's defence industry, in line with the Commission's ReArm Europe Plan/Readiness 2030 to strengthen pan-European defence capabilities, and the Joint White Paper on European Defence Readiness 2030, framing a new approach to defence and identifying investment needs