BraveTech EU: EDA and Commission Boost Defence Innovation

Accelerate defence innovation BraveTech EU: EDA partners with the European Commission

2026-05-04 Source: Press release EDA 1 min Reading Time

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The European Defence Agency (EDA) and the European Commission signed an agreement giving the Agency responsibility for the next phase of BraveTech EU, a joint initiative between the European Union and Ukraine.

The goal of BraveTech EU is to accelerate defence innovation by bringing together the EU’s and Ukraine’s defence industries and empowering them to develop new technologies using lessons learned from real battlefield experience in Ukraine.

This agreement marks an important step in strengthening Europe’s defence innovation ecosystem. It also reinforces EDA’s role in defence innovation by building on the approach developed through the Hub for EU Defence Innovation (HEDI), notably through its Operational Experimentation (OPEX) model, which connects promising technologies with military users and operational needs.

Under the agreement worth €35 million, EDA will be responsible for the BraveTech EU’s second phase focusing on testing of emerging defence technologies and ideas proposed by European and Ukrainian innovators, SMEs, and startups. Military experts from the EU countries, Ukraine, EDA and the European Commission will then assess the solutions against different operational scenarios drawn from the war in Ukraine.

About BraveTech EU

BraveTech EU is designed to shorten the time between innovation and operational use. With total budget of €100 million, the initiative focuses on startups, SMEs, and emerging technologies, and is implemented in two phases - Seed and Scale Up. It will give EU Member States and Ukraine faster, safer and more cost-effective access to battlefield proven defence technologies, turning operational experience into scalable, EU-wide defence capabilities while strengthening the European defence industrial base and improving overall EU defence readiness.

BraveTech EU is a joint European Union - Ukraine initiative. Led by the European Commission, it brings together the European Defence Fund (EDF), the EU Defence Innovation Scheme (EUDIS), the European Defence Agency and Ukraine’s BRAVE1 platform into a common effort for joint development, testing, and deployment of advanced defence solutions.

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