EDF 2026 call: new abilities in over-the-horizon (OTH) sensing — EUR 29m

Scope:
In order to increase situational awareness and operational superiority, improved detection, tracking and identification capabilities over large areas with increased range and minimum latency are required. High-frequency (HF) over-the-horizon (OTH) systems therefore need to be improved, while an EU concept for a cognitive and scalable network of HF OTH sensors could be further explored.
The objective of this topic is to follow up and complement previous activities in the field of OTH, in particular the development of technologies for an EU OTH radar network concept providing deep cooperation and data sharing for strategic surveillance. In this context, both HF surface (active, cooperative and non-cooperative passive) and skywave radar technologies should be explored and integrated for their respective advantages in terms of area covered at long ranges and as a gap filler in an agile network.
Beyond defence technologies, this topic also contributes to the STEP objectives as defined in the STEP Regulation in the target investment area of deep and digital technologies.
Targeted types of activities:
Studies and design, not excluding upstream and downstream activities eligible for development actions.
Indicative budget:
EUR 29 000 000 for this topic under the EDF-2026-LS-DA-DIS call.
Indicative number of proposals to be funded:
One proposal is to be funded for this topic. However, depending on the quality of the proposals submitted and the budget available, more than one proposal may ultimately be funded for this topic.

Conditions:
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
Application form templates
Standard application form (EDF)
— the application form specific to this call is available in the Submission System
Detailed budget table (EDF LS DA)
Participant information (EDF)
List of infrastructure, facilities, assets and resources (EDF)
Cofinancing declaration (EDF DA, DA LS AND ASAP)
Actual indirect cost methodology declaration (EDF)
Harmonised capability declaration (EDF DA AND DA LS)
Declaration on procurement intent and common specifications (EDF DA AND DA LS)
Ownership control declaration
Ownership control guarantee
PRS declaration (EDF)
Model Grant Agreements (MGA)
EDF, ASAP and EDIRPA Lump Sum MGA
Additional documents:
EDF Annual Work Programme
EDF Regulation 2021/697
EDF Programme Security Instruction (PSI)
Guidelines on FSTP implementation - WP2026
EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509
Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment
EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement
Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual
Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions
Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement