EU PESCO Projects: More European Union defence projects are moving from planning and testing towards actual procurement and use. The 2026 PESCO Projects Progress Report covers 74 projects and highlights work in military mobility, cyber defence, artificial intelligence, electronic warfare and maritime security. The report says more projects are now moving towards real military capabilities.
PESCO, or Permanent Structured Cooperation, helps participating EU countries work together on defence projects. Countries first agree on common needs. They then work on demonstrations and testing before systems can move towards joint procurement.
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Military Mobility and Maritime Projects Gain Pace
Military mobility remains a major area of work. Projects linked to transport aircraft are working on common requirements. There is also progress in making airlift pilot training more similar across countries. New projects on unmanned air-to-air refuelling and the evacuation of injured soldiers are also laying the base for joint development.
Another part of the work is aimed at making it easier to move troops and military equipment across EU borders. This is important for faster movement during exercises and operations.
Maritime projects are also getting closer to procurement. The Essential Elements of European Escort project has agreed on common operational requirements for future European escort ships. The Critical Seabed Infrastructure Protection project is preparing technology demonstrations to protect important underwater infrastructure.
Several maritime projects have already finished their planning stage and are now moving towards procurement. In cyber defence, Cyber Rapid Response Teams continue supporting EU missions, while the Quantum Enablers for Strategic Advantage project is working on the use of quantum technologies for defence.
Projects Moving Towards Procurement
The report names several projects that are getting closer to procurement. These include the Cyber Threats and Incident Response Information Sharing Platform, Maritime Semi-Autonomous Systems for Mine Countermeasures and the Medium-size Semi-Autonomous Surface Vehicle.
Countries are also working through the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation on projects such as the European Patrol Corvette, Eurodrone, European Secure Software Defined Radio and Anti-Torpedo Torpedo.
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Funding and industry support are also playing a role. Thirty PESCO projects are linked to European Defence Fund programmes. Industrial consortia involved in those links can receive a 10% funding bonus. Another 30 projects involve research and technology organisations. The report also says projects receiving European Defence Agency expert support tend to show stronger progress and greater operational maturity.
Some projects are now becoming permanent defence structures. The Cyber and Information Domain Coordination Centre is moving towards becoming the EU Cyber Defence Coordination Centre. The Network of Logistic Hubs in Europe and Support to Operations is already operational. The Joint EU Intelligence School is also moving towards permanent capability status through closer links with the European Security and Defence College.
