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. A major step towards improving the EU defence system was taken after the European Parliament and the Council reached a political agreement on the programme.
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.
The programme aims to speed up the development and fielding of cutting-edge defence technologies across Europe and is expected to enter into force on January 1, 2027.
The initiative will provide funding of 1-5 million euros per project, with a strong focus on defence innovation.
European Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius said:
“AGILE would strengthen Europe’s ability to deliver the capabilities required by member states while reinforcing the long-term resilience of the continent’s defence industrial base.”
According to the European Commission, AGILE will introduce a challenge-driven approach, with technology priorities defined jointly with EU member states.
The programme will also improve access to testing infrastructure. The political agreement confirms fast-track access to testing and pilot facilities, addressing one of the main obstacles that defence SMEs face in bringing new technologies to market.
