Ukrainian defense enterprises may gain access to several major European Union funding programs, including the European Defence Fund, SAFE, and EDIP. This is reported in a piece by Defense Express, according to UNN.
Details
The largest instrument for supporting defense development in the EU remains the European Defence Fund, with a budget of 7.3 billion euros for 2021-2027. Approximately 1 billion euros is allocated annually for defense projects. Participation requires the formation of international consortia consisting of at least three European companies or institutions.
Arsen Prykhodko, Director of International Business Development at Athlon Avia, stated that currently Ukrainian companies can only join as "third-party participants" with funding up to 60,000 euros; however, the EU is already discussing the possibility of full participation for the Ukrainian defense industry in consortia.
There is a window of opportunity that can be seized—if there are either unique proprietary ideas or partners who can utilize our knowledge to transform them into a product
SAFE and new production requirements
Separately, the European Union is promoting the 150 billion euro SAFE program for the joint production and procurement of weaponry. Ukraine is officially a partner of the program, and Denmark and Portugal have already agreed to fund the procurement of Ukrainian drones. At the same time, in SAFE projects, at least 65% of components must originate from the EU or Ukraine, while the use of American and Chinese technologies is significantly restricted.
According to Prykhodko, EU countries are primarily interested in investing credit funds into their own defense industries.
For European countries to buy something Ukrainian, we must either establish joint production or integrate European components into our products
At the end of 2025, the EU also approved the EDIP program, which provides grants and financial assistance for the development of the defense industry. Out of a total budget of 1.5 billion euros, about 300 million euros are planned to be specifically directed toward supporting Ukrainian defense enterprises.
Defense Express notes that the main areas of funding will be drones, anti-drone systems, loitering munitions, ISR systems, and electronic components. The application process for specific areas will start as early as June 2026.