BraveTechEU DefTech Forges 2nd edition in Germany and Romania; €120,000 prize per winning team
Call for participants: 2nd edition of the BraveTechEU DefTech Forges - Defence Industry and Space
Publication date: 10 August 2026
Join the next Cycle of BraveTechEU DefTech Forges and claim your place in the history of the European defence ecosystem.
The next challenge will take place in mid-November 2026 in Germany and Romania and will focus on:
Unattended ground sensors: acoustic and seismic networks tested against cadets, vehicles and drones
Autonomous strike UAS and swarms: supervised flight testing, swarm autonomy, sensor-to-shooter integration, decentralised mission execution and resilient multi-drone coordination
EW-resilient UAS operations: controlled jamming to test navigation, communications and mission continuity
Rapid battlefield adaptation: flight-line reconfiguration, on-site payload reconfiguration, modular payloads, software updates, rapid hardware prototyping and test–fix–retest cycles
RF seekers and terminal guidance: passive, semi-active and active RF detection, tracking and precision guidance
This will be an opportunity to evaluate your prototypes with national armed forces — flight windows, controlled jamming, and test conditions designed to mirror the pressures of a contested battlefield rather than a controlled lab environment.
Realistic testing and experimentation conditions for your solutions
Direct feedback from military end-users and technical experts
Hands-on mentoring to improve operational relevance, integration and readiness
A chance to win €120,000 in prize money per winning team
A continued path to Phase II of Operational Experimentation, in coordination with the European Defence Agency
Register for the info session
Launch of the Call: Monday 10 August
Application deadline: Sunday 6 September
Info session: Tuesday 25 August
Delivery timeframe: 9 - 13 November
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Consultation on the new European Defence Industrial Strategy
Consultation to contribute to the Defence Omnibus Simplification Proposal
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