Join the next Cycle of BraveTechEU DefTech Forges and claim your place in the history of the European defence ecosystem.

The next challenge will take place in mid-November 2026 in Germany and Romania and will focus on:

  • Unattended ground sensors: acoustic and seismic networks tested against cadets, vehicles and drones
  • Autonomous strike UAS and swarms: supervised flight testing, swarm autonomy, sensor-to-shooter integration, decentralised mission execution and resilient multi-drone coordination
  • EW-resilient UAS operations: controlled jamming to test navigation, communications and mission continuity
  • Rapid battlefield adaptation: flight-line reconfiguration, on-site payload reconfiguration, modular payloads, software updates, rapid hardware prototyping and test–fix–retest cycles
  • RF seekers and terminal guidance: passive, semi-active and active RF detection, tracking and precision guidance

This will be an opportunity to evaluate your prototypes with national armed forces — flight windows, controlled jamming, and test conditions designed to mirror the pressures of a contested battlefield rather than a controlled lab environment.

Why apply?

  • Realistic testing and experimentation conditions for your solutions
  • Direct feedback from military end-users and technical experts
  • Hands-on mentoring to improve operational relevance, integration and readiness
  • A chance to win €120,000 in prize money per winning team
  • A continued path to Phase II of Operational Experimentation, in coordination with the European Defence Agency

Registration

Apply here

Register for the info session

Key dates

  • Launch of the Call: Monday 10 August
  • Application deadline: Sunday 6 September
  • Info session: Tuesday 25 August
  • Delivery timeframe: 9 – 13 November

Useful documents

General publications10 August 2026

Rules of Contest_DefTech Forges_Edition#2 Germany

General publications10 August 2026

Rules of Contest_DefTech Forges_Edition#2 Romania

Share this article: