The European Commission has released the first €1.2 billion from the European Defense Fund. The funds will go towards projects that include the development of next-generation combat aircraft, the commission announced on Monday. In total, the EU is supporting 61 projects.
The European Defense Fund, created in 2019, aims to support cooperation within the EU in research and development of defense capabilities. Overall, it foresees a budget of €7.9 billion for the period 2021-2027.
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Of the funds now released, almost €100 million will go towards the EU-HYDEF project, which deals with defense against hypersonic missiles. The defense systems will be developed by the Spanish company Sener until 2035. Another 75 million euros will go to the EICACS project for air combat systems by the French company Dassault Aviation.
The defense capabilities of EU states have declined due to deliveries of weapons to Ukraine in the fight against Russia. The limits of Europe’s military capabilities also became clear.