Needs-driven defense innovation in the Transparent Battlefield

In a modern military operational environment, advanced technology and a vast network of information sources make it possible to obtain a near-complete overview of enemy positions and activities. This means that traditional methods of concealing and protecting troops and equipment are becoming increasingly difficult to use. The transparent battlefield requires new strategies for avoiding detection and for deciding on countermeasures.

This call for proposals will help solve defense-related needs for the transparent battlefield and strengthen collaboration between the civilian and defense sectors.

The call for proposals is aimed at Swedish companies and consortia that have civilian technology solutions with potential to be developed for military use on the transparent battlefield.

Companies and consortia can apply for funding of at least 1,000,000 and a maximum of 7,000,000 SEK to carry out an innovation project for development and verification.

Project may last for a maximum of twelve months, starting in November 2025.

The call for proposals is part of the Civil-Military Innovation Program, a joint effort between Vinnova and the Swedish Armed Forces. The program aims to contribute to increasing Swedish military capabilities, and is to be implemented in a way that strengthens the competitiveness of Swedish companies. It will also promote increased collaboration between civilian and military innovation system to strengthen Sweden's defense innovation capabilities.

Read more about the government mission for Civil-Military Synergies

Read more about strategic direction for Defense Innovation

Access to cutting-edge technology is of central importance in a security situation characterized by instability and unpredictability. Civilian actors, by virtue of their innovative capacity, have an important role to play in contributing in new ways to solving military and security-related challenges.

In a modern military operational environment, advanced technology and information systems make it possible to have a near-complete overview of enemy positions and activities. This means that traditional methods of concealing and protecting troops and equipment are becoming increasingly difficult to use. The ability to operate in extreme climates will be increasingly important for defense capabilities as it can complicate military operations.

Predicting all battlefield dynamics in advance will not be possible. On a transparent battlefield, sensors, satellites, drones, and other surveillance systems can continuously collect and analyze data that provides a real-time picture of the battlefield. This places new eligibility requirements on strategies and tactics to deal with the increased visibility, both for friendly and enemy units.

Innovative solutions in this area can be utilized to improve decision-making and the effectiveness of military operations. They can also be used in aim to prevent an adversary from carrying out military attacks.

The purpose of this call for proposals is to strengthen the conditions for Swedish companies to further develop their civilian solution for use in military contexts to solve the challenges on the transparent battlefield.

The call's focus areas

On a transparent battlefield, a range of advanced technologies are used to provide a comprehensive overview. Countermeasures against increased visibility become more important.

Innovative solutions to the challenges can, for example, lead to new ways to:

• minimize thermal and electromagnetic signatures (unique characteristics that different objects emit and that can be detected by sensors)
• collect, compile and process digital information
• to mislead an opponent
• mask personnel and equipment to reduce signatures across the entire electromagnetic spectrum
• Use the above in extreme cold.

Sustainability and gender equality

Both Vinnova and the Swedish Armed Forces are tasked with promoting sustainable growth and social development. Therefore, there is also a focus on sustainability and gender equality.

An innovative force in a sustainable world - Vinnova

What is gender-equal innovation? - Vinnova

The core values of the Swedish Armed Forces - The Swedish Armed Forces

Gender equality and equality - Swedish Armed Forces

The call for proposals is aimed at Swedish companies and consortia that have innovative civil technology solutions with potential to solve defense-related challenges and needs for the transparent battlefield. A consortium can consist of several companies, academic partners, and other relevant organizations. At least one small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) must participate in each project, but it does not need to have a coordinating function in cases where it participates in a consortium.

Please note that companies granted funding in this call for proposals are not guaranteed future business or collaboration with the Swedish Armed Forces or other defense authorities.

Within the call for proposals companies are given the opportunity to further develop and adapt civilian technology and business strategy to be able to operate in defense-related markets.

Companies and consortia can apply for a minimum of 1,000,000 and a maximum of 7,000,000 SEK in funding to implement an innovation project that addresses the need to further develop technology, verify and validate a solution, in line with the focus of the call.

Examples of activities include:

• investigation of technical and design requirements for applications in military markets
• development of prototypes or demonstration versions of products or services, including pilot work, testing and validation
• research and development of scalable production methods
• conducting studies or tests to verify the potential of an innovative solution for military applications
• mapping of market conditions, including identification of customer segments, user needs, possible partnerships and competitive situation within military markets

What costs can we finance?

Our funding is subject to state aid rules. The rules govern what types of costs we can finance. These are called eligible costs.

In this the call for proposals these types of costs are eligible:

• Personnel costs: Salaries, social security contributions and other personnel costs.
• Equipment, land and buildings: Instruments, equipment and rent for premises other than regular business premises.
• Consulting and licensing costs: Consulting services, knowledge and patents purchased or licensed from a third party. Costs for consulting services from third parties may not exceed 20 percent of a project party's budget.
• Other direct costs: For example, materials, supplies and travel necessary to carry out the project.
• Indirect costs (overhead): Costs that are not incurred as an immediate consequence of but can be related to the project, for example regular premises and cleaning.
  Indirect costs may constitute a maximum of 30 percent of personnel costs. Universities, university colleges, and certain research organizations and government agencies have higher maximum limits depending on the type of activities.

For more detailed information about which costs we can finance, see Instructions for eligible costs.

What eligibility requirements apply to costs we finance?

For a cost to be eligible, it must be:

• necessary for the activities in the project
• recorded correctly and separately from the organization's other costs

An organization may also not claim someone else's costs as its own.

For more detailed information about which eligibility requirements, limitations and exceptions apply, see Instructions for eligible costs.

The state aid rules also govern how large a proportion of the costs we can finance.

How much funding can the project receive?

Companies and consortia can apply for a minimum of 1,000,000 and a maximum of 7,000,000 SEK in funding to carry out an innovation project for development, verification and validation.

Vinnova can grant support according to any of the four support bases below (ad). In the project description template, applicant indicates which basis for support is deemed to be relevant.

a. Not state aid

In this the call for proposals we provide support to organisations that do not engage in economic activities. This means that they do not offer a service or are on a market. This usually includes universities and university colleges, research institutes and other organisations. We can finance up to 100 percent of the costs of such an organisation.

An organization that offers any kind of service or product on a market is considered to be conducting economic activities and cannot be granted this form of support. It does not matter how the organization is financed, whether it is public or private, or whether it has a profit motive. It also does not matter what legal form the business has. For example, whether it is a limited liability company, a trading company, an economic association, a non-profit association or a foundation.

If you are unsure whether an organization in your project is conducting economic activities, contact call manager. However, the organization is responsible for assessing whether it is conducting economic activities.

b. Support for start-ups – Article 22

In this the call for proposals we provide support to start-ups. We can finance up to 100 percent of the company's project costs.

A newly started company means a company that:

• was registered, started its activities or became liable to pay taxes less than five years ago
• has fewer than 50 employees
• is not listed on the stock exchange
• not yet distributed profit
• Has not taken over another company's activities, acquired or formed through a merger. For exceptions, see Funding grounds and levels of support for funding.

We grant the grant in accordance with Article 22 of the European Commission's General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER).

c. De minimis support ( support of minor importance)

In this the call for proposals Vinnova also grants de minimis support, also known as support of minor importance. We can finance up to 100 percent of a project party's costs.

An organization can receive a maximum of 300,000 euros over a three-year period in this form of support, regardless of the funder and project. This means that if the same organization has received support of lesser importance in other project from other funders in the past, it will affect how large the support can be in this the call for proposals.

Submit a certificate of de minimis support when you submit proposal. This is required for us to be able to grant this support.

Certificate of de minimis support

We grant funding in accordance with the EU Commission Regulation (2023/2831) on de minimis support.

d. Research and development – Article 25

In this the call for proposals we also provide support for industrial research and experimental development.

What is industrial research?

Industrial research can be simply described as acquiring new knowledge and new skills to develop or significantly improve products, processes or services and can include building prototypes in a laboratory environment or in an environment with simulated interfaces to existing systems and to pilot operations.

What is experimental development?

Experimental development can be simply described as combining, shaping and using existing knowledge to develop new or improved products, processes or services.

For a complete definition, see funding bases and levels of support.

How much of the costs can we finance?

The size of the organization and type of activity determines how large a proportion of the costs we can finance, i.e. the maximum level of support.

We grant funding in accordance with Article 25 of the EU Commission's General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER).

In order for us to take a position on and assess your proposal, it must meet certain formal eligibility requirements. If the requirements are not met, proposal will be rejected immediately.

Eligibility requirements on organizational form of project parties

• All project partners must be legal entities. Natural persons or individual companies cannot participate as project partners.
• The coordinating party must be a Swedish legal entity and conduct activities in Sweden.
• At least one company must be a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) according to the EU definition, see How the EU defines small and medium-sized enterprises (SME.
• The Armed Forces are not allowed to apply for funding in this call for proposals.
• Participating companies must be registered as employers with the Swedish Tax Agency.

Eligibility requirements for the project

• At least one participant must be an SME.
• The project manager must be employed by the coordinating party in the project.
• The project may not begin before proposal is submitted.
• Costs for consulting services from outside parties may constitute a maximum of 20 percent of a project party's budget.

Eligibility requirements on proposal

• Proposal must be written in Swedish or English.
• Proposal must be designed according to the instructions given in section 9 and in the respective appendix.
• Completed model declaration form should be attached to proposal.
• All requested attachments must be attached to proposal.

What do we assess?

Proposal must be in line with aim and objective of the call and will be assessed according to the criteria below.

Potential

• How well proposal describes the solution's potential to meet the challenge linked to the transparent battlefield.
• How well proposal describes how the civilian technology solution can be adapted and utilized in the defense sector.
• How well the project is assessed to contribute to increased gender equality.
• How well the project is assessed to contribute to increased sustainability with regard to Sweden's security, competitiveness and resilience.

Actors

• To what extent does the project team have the relevant expertise, experience and capacity to further develop the company's civilian solution towards defense-related applications.
• How well the composition of the project team reflects the competencies required to drive technology and business development in both civilian and military contexts.
• How well the project team is composed in terms of gender distribution, and how well power and influence are distributed between women and men in the project.

Feasibility

• How credible and clear the project's budget, methodology and implementation plan are in relation to the project's objective, expected results and the activities planned.
• How well risks are identified and managed in the project's implementation plan.
• To what extent does the project demonstrate that gender equality has been integrated into planning and implementation.
• How well the project considers environmental and climate aspects, for example linked to resilience, technology choices, production methods and resource use.

How do we assess?

Proposal are assessed in competition with other applications submitted to the call for proposals according to the following process:

1. Proposal are made in Vinnova's e-services.
2. All applications that meet the formal requirements according to section 6 are assessed by specially appointed evaluator with relevant expertise.
3. Based on the assessors' recommendations, Vinnova and the Swedish Armed Forces will agree on which project will proceed to a decision on funding. To ensure a relevant spread of project within the call's exemplified focus areas (see section 2), Vinnova and the Swedish Armed Forces reserve the right to apply a portfolio strategy in the selection of applications for funding.
4. Vinnova makes formal decisions about which project are granted funding.
5. Decision notified to applicant.

We also assess financial status

Before deciding on funding, we also conduct a comprehensive assessment of the organizational and financial status of those receiving funding. We use information we obtain from credit reports, currently from Dun & Bradstreet.

In order for us to grant funding this applies:

• Organizations seeking funding for personnel costs must be registered as employers with the Swedish Tax Agency.
• Organizations must not be insolvent, undergoing liquidation or corporate restructuring, nor must they have unpaid debts with the Swedish Enforcement Authority.
• Limited liability companies must not have used up half or more of their share capital.
• If requested, SMEs must be able to demonstrate that they have the financial means to implement the project according to their budget in proposal. They cannot use public funding or their own funds intended for other project to cover project costs in this call for proposals.

Once we have assessed all applications, we will send you a decision either granting or rejecting your proposal. In the decision, we state how much funding each party in the project will be granted. Our decision cannot be appealed.

What happens if you are granted funding?

If we grant your proposal, you must follow our general terms and conditions for funding.

The terms and conditions include the following:

That you will sign a special document in which you agree to carry out the project.

That you report your costs and results to us regularly during the project.

How the results will be used, and how any scientific publication will take place.

See our general terms and conditions and get help understanding and fulfilling them.

You also need to follow the special conditions that apply to this the call for proposals:

• The project must be represented at the seminars or program conferences that Vinnova may organize during the project period. Costs for participation in such seminars/program conferences are eligible costs.
• In information about the project and in each publication of project results, it must be stated that the work was carried out with support from Vinnova (in English the name is given as Sweden's Innovation Agency) and the Swedish Armed Forces (in English Swedish Armed Forces) within the Civil-Military Innovation Program. Publication refers to, for example, publication, regardless of medium, and oral presentations.

We may also decide to add supplementary special conditions for individual project. In such cases, they will be stated in the decision.

Could you have to pay back funding?

If you do not follow our term, you may be required to repay the amount. This also applies if you have been granted funding incorrectly or for an amount that is too high.

When the call for proposals closes, your proposal will be registered as. We will then send an email confirmation to the person responsible for the user account, as well as the project manager and the signatory. If you have not received a confirmation within 24 hours of the call for proposals closing, please contact us.

Once the call for proposals is closed, you cannot change anything in proposal. You can only make additions if we ask you to.

Who can read your proposal?

Your proposal will be read by Vinnova employees and the external evaluator participating in this the call for proposals. Everyone works under a duty of confidentiality.

Applications submitted to us become public documents. This means that we must disclose them if requested. However, we keep confidential information that we believe could cause financial harm to the individual if disclosed. This could include information about business and operational conditions, inventions or research results.

This is how we handle public documents and confidentiality.