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    EDF-2026-RA-AIR-A4R

    Autonomous and automatic air-to-air refuelling

    OpenLive official EU data

    Research actions implemented via actual cost grants · EDF-RA

    29 Sep 2026
    Deadline
    €110M
    Call budget (2026)

    What this call funds

    This call funds research into technology that lets military tanker and receiver aircraft refuel automatically in the air, without manual coordination between crews. It focuses on developing sensors, navigation systems, image processing, and flight control algorithms that make docking and refuelling safer and more efficient, including in poor conditions. The end goal is to reduce pilot workload and pave the way for unmanned aircraft to refuel autonomously.

    defence security · aerospace · robotics automation

    Who wins this

    This call best suits defence research consortia and aerospace technology developers working on sensor fusion, navigation, and flight control systems for military aircraft refuelling applications.

    Could you win this call?

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    The call in detail

    Funding model
    EDF-AG
    Submission
    Single-stage submission (full proposal at once)
    Type of action
    EDF Research Actions
    Partners
    Not stated in the call.
    Also required
    Targeted activities include integrating knowledge, studies and design, not excluding upstream research activities; several proposals may be funded with an indicative budget of EUR 20,000,000 for this topic.
    Sectors
    Defence · Aerospace · Cybersecurity
    Read the full conditions from the official call ›

    Conditions 1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout described in section 5 of the call document. Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System. 2. Eligible Countries described in section 6 of the call document. 3. Other Eligible Conditions described in section 6 of the call document. 4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion described in section 7 of the call document. 5a. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes described section 8 of the call document and the Online Manual. 5b. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds described in section 9 of the call document. 5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement described in section 4 of the call document. 6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants described in section 10 of the call document. Call document and annexes: Call document

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