The European Commission welcomes the adoption of the Regulation establishing Programme for agile and rapid defence innovation (AGILE) which will bring disruptive defence technology from the lab to the field at record speed. The new €115 million funding tool will provide dedicated support to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), including start-ups and scale ups to develop innovative defence solutions and support their uptake.
The programme will operate with an unprecedented time-to-grant of just four months and for technologies to reach defence forces between 1-3 years. It will support between 20 and 30 projects, providing up to 100% funding for all eligible costs. To facilitate quick innovation, the funding will also allow companies to retroactively claim expenses claimed up to three months prior to the closing of the call for applications.
The work programme will cover two main types of activities: mission-driven development of disruptive defence products and technologies and market delivery by helping defence solutions reach the actual markets.
AGILE has been adopted in record time, in less than seven months after the Commission tabled its proposal in March 2026. The swift adoption reflects EU's commitment to strengthen Europe's capacity to innovate.
Russia's war in Ukraine has demonstrated that success on the battlefield relies on new technologies, from drones and autonomous systems to artificial. Europe's ability to develop, test, and deploy new technologies and cost-efficient solutions in weeks or months rather than years is now being tested.
AGILE responds to this need by giving innovative smaller players the support and speed they need to bring promising defence solutions to the armed forces. In practice, the programme will support startups and tech innovators with faster, more flexible funding and allow innovations to be deployed as quickly as possible.
Next steps
The AGILE programme is expected to become fully operational as of early 2027. The Commission is currently preparing the programme's implementation, which will be monitored and assessed by the Council and the European Parliament.
Background
AGILE complements existing EU instruments supporting defence innovation and industrial development, including the European Defence Fund (EDF ) and the EU Defence Innovation Scheme (EUDIS) , the European Defence Industrial Programme (EDIP) and the European Innovation Council (EIC) . Together, these instruments provide support across different stages of the defence innovation cycle, from research and development to the scaling and uptake of innovative solutions. With entities from Ukraine and EFTA-EEA countries also eligible to participate, AGILE will help bring together a wider range of expertise and experience in defence innovation.
