The European Defence Fund (EDF) was established to strengthen Europe’s defense industrial base and encourage collaborative innovation across Member States. Since its launch, the program has brought together industry, research institutions, and defense organizations to develop technologies that support Europe’s operational readiness and strategic autonomy.
For Terma, the EDF represents a natural extension of the company’s longstanding role in delivering mission-critical technologies across air, naval, space, and cybersecurity domains. Over the past several years, Terma has participated in a broad range of EDF-related initiatives covering areas such as air combat, cybersecurity, information superiority, naval systems, and space-based capabilities.
“European security challenges are increasingly interconnected, which means innovation cannot happen in isolation. The EDF creates a framework where industries and nations can develop capabilities together, align operational needs, and strengthen Europe’s long-term resilience,” says Séverin Schnepp, Associate Director, European Affairs at Terma.
One of the defining characteristics of the EDF is its collaborative structure. Projects are built around multinational consortia that combine operational users, industrial partners, universities, and research organizations from across Europe.
This model allows companies such as Terma to contribute specialized expertise while working alongside a broad ecosystem of European partners. According to Terma’s own estimates the company has collaborated with more than 160 partners across 27 nations through EDF-related activities.
The value of this cooperation extends beyond individual technologies. EDF participation enables shared learning, interoperability, and stronger alignment between European defense stakeholders. It also supports the development of common approaches to increasingly complex operational challenges, from cyber resilience to future air combat environments.
Importantly, EDF programs are designed around real operational needs identified by European defense authorities and end-users. This ensures that projects remain closely connected to practical mission requirements rather than purely experimental research.
Terma’s EDF involvement spans both research and development activities, with a strong emphasis on technologies that can transition into operational capabilities.
Recent projects have included work in AI-enabled decision support, cyber range infrastructure, pilot interfaces, and space-based situational awareness systems. Across these areas, a consistent theme has emerged: helping operators manage complexity more effectively in time-critical environments.
That focus continues with Terma’s participation in two newly announced EDF projects: ECC2 and EPIIC 2.
The ECC2 project aims to strengthen European cyber defense coordination through a secure command-and-control environment that improves how cyber threats are identified, managed, and shared between participating nations. Terma’s contribution includes technologies that support more intuitive access to information and AI-assisted interaction for operators working under pressure.
“In both cyber and air domains, operators are facing growing complexity and increasing information loads. Our role is to help transform that complexity into clearer decision-making support that improves operational effectiveness,” says Séverin Schnepp, Associate Director, European Affairs at Terma.
In parallel, the EPIIC 2 project focuses on future fighter cockpit technologies designed to improve pilot effectiveness and safety. Here, Terma contributes expertise related to virtual assistant technologies that can simplify interaction with onboard systems and reduce cognitive workload during complex missions.
As the security environment evolves, Europe faces increasing pressure to strengthen its technological independence and industrial resilience. Programs such as the EDF play an important role in ensuring that critical defense technologies can be developed collaboratively within Europe while supporting long-term competitiveness and innovation.
For Terma, participation in EDF projects is therefore not simply about joining research programs. It is about contributing operationally relevant expertise to shared European priorities while ensuring that innovation remains closely connected to mission realities.
The scale of the EDF also reflects the growing strategic importance of collaborative defense development. Since 2021, the program has operated with a multi-billion-euro budget supporting projects across domains including cybersecurity, air combat, naval systems, space, sensors, and disruptive technologies.
“Strong defense capabilities are built through long-term cooperation between nations, industries, and operational users. The EDF is important because it enables Europe to develop critical technologies collaboratively while strengthening resilience across the defense ecosystem,” says Séverin Schnepp, Associate Director, European Affairs at Terma.