(L-R) Stéphanie Obertin, Luxembourg's Minister for Research and Higher Education; Yuriko Backes, Luxembourg's Minister of Defence; Lex Delles, Luxembourg's Minister of the Economy, SMEs, Energy and Tourism; Credit: MECO

On Thursday 10 July 2025, Luxembourg's Minister of Defence, Yuriko Backes, Minister of the Economy, SMEs, Energy and Tourism, Lex Delles, and Minister for Research and Higher Education, Stéphanie Obertin, jointly launched a call for research and development (R&D) projects in the field of defence.

Similar to the first two editions launched in 2022 and 2024, this call for projects is the result of national cooperation between the Directorate of Defence, the Ministry of the Economy and the Ministry of Research and Higher Education, in collaboration with the National Research Fund (FNR) and Luxinnovation.

The total budget for the 2025 joint call, provided by the Directorate of Defence, amounts to €11.25 million. For this and future editions, some adjustments have been made to better meet government objectives in the field of defence R&D:

  • the call focuses on purely defence projects, rather than dual-use projects - this is required to meet NATO's new 3.5% target;
  • the frequency of calls for projects will now be annual, instead of every two years, with a single evaluation phase;
  • the call for proposals is open, with no prescribed research areas but with priority areas (materials, cyber, space, circularity, autonomous systems and artificial intelligence);
  • the authorised technological maturity level ranges from three proofs of concept to seven prototypes;
  • the call for projects is aimed at national companies and research centres, as well as stakeholders from allied and partner countries as self-funded entities within a consortium.

"There is no alternative to research, development and innovation if we want a larger, more forward-looking and more independent European defence industry, with a greater presence of our Luxembourg stakeholders," stated Minister Backes.

Minister Delles emphasised: "This call for projects illustrates our desire to strengthen Luxembourg's technological sovereignty while stimulating industrial innovation. By supporting applied research in the field of defence, we are creating concrete opportunities for our companies and research centres to position themselves in high-value-added markets, both at the European and international levels."

Minister Obertin commented: "Research cannot remain on the sidelines of the major security challenges we face. Through this call for projects, Luxembourg affirms its responsibility as an ally: to strengthen its innovation capabilities in defence, while respecting its values, with rigour, consistency and a long-term vision."

The objectives of this call for projects are multiple, according to the respective ministries. First, the promotion of R&D projects in the field of defence and the integration of innovative national products and solutions into international value chains allow for the generation of a sustainable economic and social return on investment. The call for projects is said to allow national stakeholders to gain experience in the field of defence, while striving to position themselves as pioneers in certain technological niches. It is also said to increase the visibility of national stakeholders among state partners, facilitating their integration into defence programmes and value chains at the EU or NATO level. Furthermore, it allows new players to join the national defence community and collaborate, promote and market their technological capabilities internationally.

The ministries added that the call for projects is also part of the government's ambition to increase defence spending to 2% of GNI by 2025, with significant investments in defence R&D. By now focusing on purely defence projects, this call for projects is in line with the commitment made by all Allies at the NATO Summit in The Hague (Netherlands) to invest 3.5% in essential defence needs by 2035.

Ultimately, the interministerial initiative aims to meet the European Union's requirement to invest at least 2% of the national defence effort in R&D projects. With a total planned budget of approximately €70 million in this area by 2025, the Directorate of Defence will have increased its R&D investments almost twelvefold compared to the project will be funded by 2022 (€5.4 million) and will exceed European requirements.

To facilitate the emergence of projects and support interested stakeholders in their efforts, Luxinnovation will set up an online platform where companies and public research stakeholders are invited to submit their project ideas from 15 September to 12 December 2025.

In addition, Luxinnovation will organise two webinars, on 22 September and 12 November 2025, for companies and researchers interested in participating in the call for projects.