Six SME selected for five EU defence projects

Six Cypriot SMEs were selected to participate in another five projects of the European Commission’s European Defence Industrial Development Programme (EDIDP) for 2020, in what the defence ministry hailed as a significant success for local R&D in the sector.

In an announcement on Thursday, the ministry said that this comes on the back of Cypriot companies’ involvement in five projects that were selected in 2019.

“This proves that Cyprus can contribute in a concrete way to the sector of development European defence potential. Participation of the companies will contribute to developing local defence research, innovation and technology and at the same time create opportunities for new job positions,” it said.

Cypriot companies secured participation in the following selected projects:

1. JEY -CUAS: Joint European System for Countering Unmanned Aerial Systems (participation of the company SIGNAL GENERIX LTD).
2. FIRES: Future Indirect Fires European Solution (participation of the company ADDITESS ADVANCED INTEGRADED TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS & SERVICES LTD)
3. USSPS: Development of Unmanned Semi-fixed Sea Platforms for Maritime Surveillance (participation of the companies CY.R.I.C CYPRUS RESEARCH AND INNOVATION CENTER LTD και SIGNAL GENERIX LTD )
4. AI4DEF: Artificial Intelligence for Defence (participation of the company EIGHT BELLS LTD)
5. HERMES: Data Exchange Platform for the Cyber Defence of Autonomous Military Systems (participation of the company Ebos Technologies LTD)

Total financing for these projects is about €38m. The European Commission will make available some €158m for 26 projects following 12 invitations published in 2020.

Defence Minister Charalambos Petrides congratulated all those who contributed to the success and especially the Employers and Industrialists Federation, the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Cyprus Association of Research and Innovation Enterprises. He thanked all involved parties for the flawless cooperation and support to the effort to develop a sector which contributes to the operational upgrading of the National Guard.

Details on the projects on https://ec.europa.eu/defence-industry-space/eu-defence-industry/european-defence-industrial-development-programme-edidp_en