EU Moves Forward on €1.5B Defence Program; Defense LiDAR Demand Surges

On July 3, 2026, the European Commission proposed five new large-scale European Defence Projects of Common Interest (EDPCIs) to help EU countries strengthen their defence capabilities by jointly developing key military systems. The industrial projects focus on five priority areas: drones and counter-drone systems; maritime and seabed defence; space; air and missile defence; and strengthening security along the EU's Eastern Flank. Under the €1.5 billion European Defence Industry Programme (EDIP), the Commission has allocated €325 million to support the establishment and deployment of the EDPCIs. The five projects have a combined funding ambition of around €190 billion by 2036, making it the most significant collaborative European defence-industrial initiative to date.

On average, 18 Member States participate in each project, with Ukraine participating in four of the five. The drone project, dubbed DECODER, involves 26 EU Member States along with Norway and Ukraine, focusing on the development, scaling, and deployment of interoperable European drone and counter-drone capabilities. With an estimated financial size of €3.5–5 billion by 2033, it has gathered the largest number of participants. The Eastern Flank Watch project, which could attract as much as €100 billion in investments by 2036, focuses on multi-domain security along the EU's Eastern border. The five main projects will each receive €60 million from the EDIP programme. The projects were selected from nine proposals submitted by Member States and are described as fully aligned with EU and NATO capability priorities. As Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, stated: "Through these flagship joint defence projects, we are strengthening Europe's security and defence capabilities. These initiatives reinforce our capacity to safeguard our sovereignty under all circumstances and deepen European defence cooperation".

Simultaneously, defense technology provider Innoviz Technologies has secured its first major defense contracts, receiving multimillion-dollar orders of several hundred LiDAR units from a defense customer. The orders, valued at approximately $3.5 million, will power counter-drone systems and perimeter intrusion detection applications. Under its Perciz brand, Innoviz offers its existing automotive-grade LiDAR sensors for defense, counter-UAS, perimeter intrusion detection, and homeland security applications. The company has announced collaborations with multiple defense and counter-UAS providers in recent weeks, including Cogniteam, which integrated Perciz LiDAR data into its AI-based counter-UAS classification system, and AeroNous Solutions, which built the LiDAR into its open-architecture command-and-control platform for continuous threat tracking. Earlier collaborations include Kela Technologies' situational-awareness platform for border and perimeter security and Drive Group's "Barak LightGuard" perimeter security system. The company also appointed former President and CEO of Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Yoav Har-Even, to its Board of Directors in July. "Physical AI is redefining what machines can perceive, and in defense and homeland security, that shift is mission-critical," said Omer Keilaf, CEO and Founder of Innoviz. "Innoviz LiDARs are the foundation of the operational picture, producing the high-resolution 3D data that the wider defense ecosystem depends on to act with precision". Additional unit orders are expected upon successful completion of the first deployment. July 2026 confirms that both European defence integration and commercial LiDAR technology are advancing rapidly to counter the growing drone threat. The era of fragmented national defence procurement is ending. The era of joint European defence projects and AI-powered, precision sensor networks is already here.