EU Security & Defence: a wider financing lens for dual use technologies

The EU's 'mini-omnibus for defence' opens new funding opportunities through a wider, cross-cutting financing approach that integrates dual use technologies across multiple programmes. Here's what this means - and the key calls to target in 2026.

Europe's defence readiness increasingly depends on technologies that operate seamlessly across civilian and military environments: cybersecurity, resilient connectivity, situational awareness, advanced encryption, trustworthy AI, critical infrastructure protection, secure communications, and crisis-management tools are all inherently dual-use.

For organisations active in defence, security and resilience, this matters because the EU funding landscape is shifting. In addition to dedicated defence instruments such as the European Defence Fund (EDF), major EU programmes such as Horizon Europe and the Digital Europe Programme (DEP) are being adapted to better accommodate projects with dual-use relevance.

The EU's recent 'mini-omnibus' for defence amends the legal bases of several programmes to incentivise defence-related investment and make it easier for existing instruments to support projects that strengthen resilience, security, and defence readiness.

What the mini-omnibus means for dual-use innovators

More EU budget through more avenues

Why defence and dual-use players benefit from a wider funding lens

From dual use technologies to military applications

The mini-omnibus makes it easier to build funding pipelines across EU programmes, matching the right instrument to the right stage of maturity and type of end user. Research, innovation, validation, deployment, and scale-up can now be financed through different tools depending on the primary objective and the targeted Technology Readiness Level (TRL). While the EDF remains essential for collaborative defence capability development, programmes such as Horizon Europe and Digital Europe can help dual-use entities mature and validate technologies, demonstrate operational value, and strengthen investment readiness, before transitioning into defence-specific integration and procurement pathways.

A portfolio approach spanning multiple programmes can deliver:

• Earlier validation in operationally relevant civil security settings (e.g., critical infrastructure operators, civil protection, border management)
• Faster market traction and de-risking through pilots and deployments funded as capacity-building or roll-out actions
• Access to innovation finance instruments, including blended finance and equity-type support (notably through the European Innovation Council), which can be decisive for SMEs, start-ups and scale-ups
• Broader partnerships and stronger impact narratives, bringing together public authorities, operators, technology providers, and research organisations.

Where to look in 2026: selected calls with dual-use relevance

Horizon Europe: R&I funding for resilience, civil security, and robust digital capabilities

Horizon Europe is a key route for research and innovation activities, including prototyping, validation, and capability-building across topics that are dual-use in practice: civil security, critical infrastructure resilience, disaster risk reduction, cybersecurity, and AI robustness, among others. For defence-adjacent technology providers, the key is to build a project around civilian mission outcomes, such as:

• critical infrastructure stress testing and resilience tools
  
• advanced border surveillance and situational awareness
  
• law enforcement capabilities against evolving security challenges
  
• climate-security preparedness and crisis management
  
• secure communications ecosystems
  
• security, privacy, and robustness of AI systems
  

Digital Europe: scaling, deployment, and capacity-building with direct dual-use relevance

Digital Europe can be highly relevant for organisations aiming to deploy and scale capabilities central to modern security and defence readiness, particularly in cybersecurity, connectivity, and operational preparedness. Digital Europe's distinctive value lies in its focus on:

• deployment and operational roll-out
  
• strengthening ecosystem capacity (networks, hubs, operational collaboration)
  
• accelerating uptake across Member States and stakeholder communities
  

This often translates into dedicated funding lines for:

• cyber-secure tools, technologies, and services (including AI-enabled security)
  
• national and ecosystem-level cyber hubs
  
• coordinated preparedness testing and preparedness actions
  
• strengthening cybersecurity capacities aligned with legislative requirements
  
• regional cable hubs and connectivity resilience
  
• dedicated topics on dual-use technologies
  

How we can help

We support defence, security and dual-use innovators in building funding strategies that reflect the full EU policy and programme landscape. We help organisations:

• identify the most strategic call opportunities across EU programmes and complementary instruments, based on TRL, end users, and expected impact
• shape project concepts to match programme logic (civil-security outcomes, resilience metrics, deployment pathways)
• structure eligible consortia, including public authorities, operators, and end users
• translate technical strengths into high-scoring proposals and credible exploitation plans, including go-to-market and scale-up narratives

Whether you are a dual-use technology developer, a defence SME, or a prime contractor, get in touch to explore how to leverage the EU's mini-omnibus for defence, and more, for your projects.