European Defence Fund
The European Defence Fund (EDF) is an EU programme established in 2021 as the Union's main instrument for financing collaborative defence research and capability development among member states. It awards co-financing on a competitive basis to consortia that typically bring together entities from several member countries, with the aim of strengthening the European defence industrial and technological base. The fund complements other EU instruments in the security and defence domain, including the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) and the European Defence Agency. Its budget for the 2021–2027 period amounts to roughly €8 billion.
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EU to send Ukraine additional €3.3 billion for missiles and drones
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced, after a phone call with President Volodymyr Zelensky, that the EU would allocate an additional €3.3 billion to Ukraine for missiles and drones, to be disbursed on Friday, 18 September, under the Ukraine Support Loan program. The announcement was paired with a proposed new joint EU–Ukraine defense initiative, funded through remaining SAFE program funds, aimed at developing a European air and missile defense system based on the joint Freya/Freyja anti-ballistic system.