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Defence Industry and Space
News announcement20 November 2020Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space

Contribution agreements signature between the Commission and OCCAR

European Commission and Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR) have signed contribution agreements for the management and implementation of two European Defence Industrial Development Programme (EDIDP) 

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European Commission and Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR) signed Contribution Agreements for the management and implementation of two European Defence Industrial Development Programme (EDIDP) project grants, in the fields of defence research and development, and capability development. These project grants have been pre-selected by the Commission and should  benefit from EDIDP support subject to positive opinion of the Programme Committee of Member States and final approval by the Commission In accordance with the Contribution Agreements, OCCAR should  be in charge of the implementation and the monitoring of the Grant Agreements. The OCCAR programmes concerned are ESSOR (European Secure Software defined Radio) and MALE RPAS (European Medium-altitude Long Endurance Remotely Piloted Aircraft system):

  • The main scope of the ESSOR programme was to provide architecture of Software Defined Radio (SDR) for military purposes and a military High Data Waveform (HDR WF), by offering the normative referential required for development and production of software radios in Europe. With the new EC-sustained project, the ESSOR programme will extend its scope to other WFs, aiming at guaranteeing the interoperability and security of voice and data communications between allied forces in joint operations, regardless which radio platforms are used, reinforcing European strategic autonomy and European roles in wider contexts. The identified beneficiaries of the consortium are Thales, Leonardo, Indra, Radmor, Bittium and Rhode & Schwarz. The EDIDP project grants will last 4 years. OCCAR Programme Participating States are Germany, Spain, Finland, France, Italy, and Poland.
  • The MALE RPAS is an indispensable capability to facilitate international conflict prevention and crisis management during all phases of operation – especially in the field of Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR). The development of a European MALE RPAS will ensure sovereignty in this area and will foster the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB). The European MALE RPAS will be designed to become one of the main pillars of any future combat air system and will offer European industries the opportunity to participate in a large Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) programme designed for integration into civil air traffic and for performances beyond capabilities of comparable current systems. The identified beneficiaries are Airbus & Space GmbH (DE), Dassault S.A. (FR), Leonardo (IT) and Airbus Defence & Space S.A.U (ES). The EDIDP project grant will last 3 years. OCCAR Programme Participating States are Germany, Spain, France, and Italy.

Pending Commission’s evaluation and award decision, the MALE RPAS programme is expected to receive up to € 100 million and ESSOR € 37 million.

Background

For ESSOR and MALE RPAS, the co-financing part of the activities funded by the grants is ensured through procurement contracts between the Consortium and the OCCAR Programme Participating States (PPS). These two respective procurement contracts are already managed by OCCAR on behalf of the PPS. Commission decided to delegate to OCCAR the management and implementation of the EU grants, due to OCCAR’s extended experience and efficiency in armament programme management spanning over the last 20 years in management of major cooperative European defence equipment programmes in all their life-cycle stages.

To implement such a delegation, a Contribution Agreement for each EDIDP project was concluded between OCCAR and the Commission to clarify the OCCAR roles and the framework under which OCCAR needs to implement the tasks entrusted by the Commission. Pending Commission’s evaluation of each project and grant agreement preparation, OCCAR would sign and manage the respective ESSOR and MALE RPAS Grant Agreements. Commission will supervise the management of the Grant Agreements through reporting.

 

Details

Publication date
20 November 2020
Author
Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space