European Union Member States have approved 11 new projects under the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) in the sixth and final wave of the initial phase of the framework. These projects, which involve 19 Member States, aim to strengthen defence cooperation and capability development.
The sixth wave of PESCO projects cover a wide range of needs, from broader strategic areas such as air and missile defence and cyber doctrine to more specific applications such as soldier systems and field medical facilities. Member States are also addressing key shortfalls by introducing unmanned aerial systems, improving interoperability through equipment standardisation, and boosting protection of vital undersea infrastructure. For more details of projects coordinated by Germany, Finland, France and Italy, please see here.
New projects
Germany (coordinating Member State)
- Joint European Electromagnetic Warfare Convergence Initiative
- (JEEWCI) Substitute for Lead in Infantry Ammunition (SLIA)
- Common Handheld Optronic Interface (CHOI)
- Infantry Navigation without GNSS (InfNav without GNSS)
- Future (unmanned) Air-to-Air Refuelling Capability
- Unmanned Air Transport of Injured Soldiers (UNATIS)
France (coordinating Member State)
- Modular Seabed Vessel (MSV)
- Medical Treatment Facility Role 2 Forward – Capability Development (MTF R2F–CD)
Finland (coordinating Member State)
Italy (coordinating Member State)
More demanding times
From 2018 to 2025, PESCO has generated a total of 83 collaborative projects spanning the five operational domains of land, maritime, air, space, and cyber. Eight have now closed, with 75 still ongoing. The projects have ranged from protecting space assets to monitoring undersea infrastructure. The European Defence Agency (EDA), which is part of the PESCO secretariat, believes the projects encourage a shared, intergovernmental approach to defence planning. All 26 participating Member States have taken part in various initiatives, working together to address capability gaps and fulfil their more binding commitments set out in PESCO.
Compared to when the framework was first launched in December 20217, the second phase of PESCO (2025–2029) will take place in a much more dynamic and challenging security environment. Given Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, there is now an urgent need to close capability gaps, especially those that cannot be met by a single country alone. In response to this, in November 2024, Ministers of Defence signed four letters of intent to work together on key capability areas highlighted in the most recent Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD) report. CARD gives an overview of Member States’ defence plans and serves as a basis for deciding potential joint projects.
The letters of intent focused on: Integrated Air and Missile Defence, Electronic Warfare, Loitering Munitions, and the European Combat Vessel. These initiatives, particularly those with a long-term focus, are strong candidates to become future PESCO projects.
Existing tools such as the European Defence Fund (EDF), which co-finances multinational defence projects using money from the EU’s long-term budget, will continue to support PESCO projects, while discussions held at the European Council of EU leaders in February 2025 have built political momentum and given clearer direction to the EU’s defence ambitions.
Looking ahead, the new projects also consider future defence challenges, such as the impact of quantum technologies and ensuring reliable access to ammunition.