Despite an input of €175 million into the European Defence Fund (EDF) by Irish businesses and academic institutions, the return in grants has been a mere €11.6 million. This has been used for research into areas such as space warfare, cybersecurity, and bomb disposal. A recent report indicates that among EU nations, Ireland gets one of the lowest EDF investments, and also participates minimally in the program.
The country’s lack of a substantial defence industry has restricted its ability to utilise the EDF funding to its fullest. Established in 2017, the EDF is part of the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy, aimed at escalating the defence industries of member nations, fostering cooperation among militaries, and decreasing dependency on external defence suppliers, such as the US.
The EDF has a budget of €8 billion for the period between 2021 and 2027, primarily allocated to nurturing collective research programmes that include public agencies, universities and companies from various EU countries.
In the course of the 2021 and 2022 funding rounds, Ireland participated in seven initiatives, with Maynooth University and the University of Galway receiving the bulk of the funds for research. The University of Galway got €4.36 million in EDF grants in 2021 to fuel the Counteract project that aims to create medical solutions against the threat of a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) attack. Meanwhile, Maynooth was granted €4.38 million to advance the Acting project, which focuses on creating cybersecurity training within the EU.
Furthermore, in 2021, Applied Intelligence Analytics, an Irish firm led by former Fine Gael TD Bernard Allen, secured €577,222 to develop the Koios project, focussing on artificial intelligence and machine learning application for defence. The subsequent year saw the firm, based in Dublin, inaugurating two more EDF projects, one of which is E-Nacsos, dedicated to ensuring naval supremacy of EU surface vessels at sea.
The initiative Convoy, a project focusing on the development of cloud intelligence for the detection of explosives, received a funding of €250,715 from the European Defence Fund (EDF). This is one of several Irish private companies that received EDF funding in 2022.
Mbryonics, based in Galway, was granted just shy of €700,000 to work on the Spider project. This feasibility study is exploring the potential of creating a constellation of small, EU-regulated military satellites. These satellites could be utilised for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, functioning similarly to Elon Musk’s Starlink.
Meanwhile, Research Driven Solutions, an engineering research firm headquartered in Dublin, received just over €550,000 in EDF funding. Their project, Utile, focuses on military equipment recycling.
Moreover, almost €645,000 was awarded to VRAI, a virtual reality enterprise established by ex-Army official Pat O’Connor. Their project Federates aims to create VR technology for military training.
While the EDF funds various projects, including those aimed at developing new missiles and warheads, the majority of initiatives involving Irish entities primarily focus on defence.
Whilst Ireland lacks a traditional arms industry, in recent years there’s been substantial growth in the dual-use industry. This industry involves the creation of technology with applications in both the military and civilian sectors.