A new programme to strengthen defence innovation
On 25 March 2026, the European Commission proposed the Programme for Agile and Rapid Defence Innovation (AGILE), a new €115 million initiative designed to accelerate defence innovation across Europe.
AGILE aims to help bring disruptive defence technologies from the lab to the field at record speed. It will support a new generation of defence innovators, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), start-ups and scale-ups, making Europe's defence innovation ecosystem more dynamic, agile and responsive.
Building on the EU Defence Industry Transformation Roadmap, AGILE addresses the need for greater speed, flexibility and risk-taking to respond to rapidly evolving defence capability needs.
The programme will fund the development, testing and deployment of innovative defence solutions addressing priority capability needs identified together with Member States and industry. Its objective is to significantly shorten the time between innovation and operational deployment, enabling new technologies to reach users in weeks or months rather than years.
Political agreement reached
On 15 July 2026, the European Parliament and the Council reached a political agreement on the AGILE programme, paving the way for its launch in early 2027.
The agreement will enable AGILE to rapidly deliver emerging and disruptive defence technologies developed by New Defence Players to EU Member States and countries associated with the programme, including Ukraine and EEA/EFTA countries.
Key features
- €115 million budget under the current Multiannual Financial Framework.
- Support for SMEs, start-ups and scale-ups developing disruptive defence technologies.
- Mission-driven challenges defined together with Member States.
- Faster development and deployment of defence products, reducing timelines from years to weeks or months where possible.
Next steps
The programme is expected to become operational on 1 January 2027.
Its implementation under the current Multiannual Financial Framework will provide valuable experience for the future of EU defence innovation. AGILE is also expected to become a key building block of the upcoming proposed European Competitiveness Fund, helping strengthen Europe's long-term defence technological and industrial base.