Programme for Agile and Rapid Defence Innovation (AGILE)

About

The European Commission’s AGILE programme is a €115 million EU instrument that will provide fast-track grants and support for SMEs, start-ups and scale-ups developing emerging and disruptive defence technologies, with first calls expected in early 2027 and Ukraine proposed for association participation.

Benefits

• 💰Programme Budget
  Programme-level: Indicative budget of €115 million for 2027
• ⚡Fast-Track Grants
  Conditional on selection: Fast-track grants with a target time-to-grant of four months
• 📊Eligible Cost Coverage
  Conditional on selection: Up to 100% of eligible project costs may be financed
• 🎯Project Selection
  Conditional on selection: Support for an estimated 20–30 projects
• 🛡️ Defence Technology Development
  Conditional on selection: Support for the rapid development of emerging and disruptive defence products and technologies, including the adaptation of civilian technologies for defence applications
• 🧪Testing and Demonstration
  Conditional on selection: Support for market uptake, field testing, experimentation, and demonstrations
• 🏢Testing Facilities and Accelerator Access
  Conditional on selection: Fast-track access to EU testing and experimentation facilities and, where possible and appropriate, to the EUDIS Business Accelerator
• 🤝Industry Matchmaking
  Conditional on selection: Dedicated matchmaking between small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and major defence industry primes
• 🛒Simplified Procurement
  Conditional on selection: Simplified procurement of products supported by AGILE
• 🚀Deployment Timeline
  Conditional: Technologies are expected to reach defence forces within one to three years

Eligibility Criteria

• Mandatory: Applicants must be legal entities established in an EU Member State or in a country associated to AGILE; the regulation provides for association of EFTA/EEA countries and Ukraine under the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement.
• Mandatory for most AGILE actions: recipients must be SMEs, including innovative start-ups and scale-ups, as defined in Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC.
• Mandatory: recipients must have their executive management structures in the EU or an associated third country.
• Mandatory: recipients must not be subject to control by a non-associated third country or by a non-associated third-country entity.
• Mandatory: the infrastructure, facilities, assets and resources used for the funded action must be located in the EU or an associated third country for the entire duration of the action.
• Conditional: the work programme may use an inducement intervention to temporarily waive establishment/executive-management requirements for SMEs from outside the EU or associated countries, subject to later compliance and with no pre-financing.
• Call-specific eligibility and award criteria are to be set in the AGILE work programme.

Participation Commitments

• Post-selection obligations, where applicable: recipients must remain eligible for the entire action, including SME status, EU/associated-country establishment, executive management location, control requirements and location of infrastructure, facilities, assets and resources.
• Recipients must comply with security and classified-information rules where applicable.
• Recipients must acknowledge EU funding and ensure visibility of that funding.
• Recipients must cooperate with audits, OLAF, EPPO and the European Court of Auditors and protect EU financial interests.
• Recipients must comply with ownership and technology-transfer restrictions under the regulation.
• For inducement-intervention awards, no pre-financing is paid and the recipient must meet the waived establishment/executive-management eligibility criteria within the timeframe in the legal commitment.

Target Sector

Defense & Security

Target Location

Applicant geographic eligibility is based on establishment and control: legal entities must be established in an EU Member State or in a country associated to AGILE. The regulation provides for association of EFTA/EEA countries and Ukraine under the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement., Executive management structures must be in the EU or an associated third country., Recipients must not be controlled by a non-associated third country or non-associated third-country entity., Infrastructure, facilities, assets and resources used for the funded action must be located in the EU or an associated third country for the entire duration of the action., For most actions, recipients must be SMEs, including innovative start-ups and scale-ups.