Belgium’s Defence Ministry and Leuven-based research centre Imec have signed a five-year partnership to develop advanced military and dual-use technologies.
The agreement was signed on Friday at Heverlee barracks by Imec chief executive Patrick Vandenameele and Defence Minister Theo Francken (N-VA).
Francken described the deal as “historic,” saying defence was fundamentally a high-tech sector. He said the partnership gave Belgium a unique advantage, arguing that Imec had already shown itself to be pioneering, innovative and capable of delivering technological breakthroughs in many civilian fields.
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He added that if those strengths could also be applied to military and dual-use projects, it would mark a major step forward in strengthening Belgium’s armed forces.
Under the agreement, Imec will receive €10 million a year for five years from Odin, a technology innovation accelerator created to help the Belgian military stay at the cutting edge.
The incubator, set up earlier this year, is due to receive nearly €4 billion over 10 years.
One of the first concrete projects will focus on developing secure battlefield communications in collaboration with the Belgian army.
Research will also be carried out into compact radar and laser systems designed, among other things, to detect drone attacks.
It is not yet clear when the Belgian military will be able to deploy these innovations in the field.
Vandenameele said research and development would take “years." He said the shortest possible timeline in chip technology was two years, and only if all the necessary research had already been completed.
As a research institute, Imec will focus solely on technological development.
Final production of successful projects is expected to be handled by start-ups or by established companies in the defence sector.
Francken said the commercial side would rely as much as possible on Belgian companies.
