The European Defence Agency has issued its annual report, stating it supported EU member states in 2025 through projects ranging from testing autonomous systems to joint procurement planning, as Europe faced a demanding security environment.
The agency's work focused on five tasks: agreeing shared priorities, supporting collaborative innovation, harmonising military requirements and jointly developing capabilities, pooling demand for common procurement, and representing armed forces’ needs at EU level, the EDA said in a statement on Wednesday.
An EU-wide operational experimentation campaign for autonomous systems was carried out in Italy through the Hub for EU Defence Innovation, the agency stated.
It added that 87 ad hoc capability projects and research and technology projects were undertaken during the year, with a combined value of €558 million.
The agency also supported 10 projects under Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) — an EU framework for countries to work together on defence — and 42 initiatives under the European Defence Fund, valued at more than €300 million.
Online matchmaking platform becomes permanent
An online government-to-government matchmaking platform launched by the agency, featuring more than 400 projects and 50 identified capability needs, became permanent in 2026, the EDA informed.
Work continued on joint capability development and collaborative procurement in 2025, including preparation of a business case for loitering munitions — weapons that can circle an area before striking a target.
EU leaders have called for a strengthened role for the European Defence Agency, it noted.
