Deadline Date: March 25, 2026
The CASCADE Funding is requesting applications to support SMEs and startups in developing and demonstrating innovative technologies across air, sea, and land domains to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and advance technology readiness.
The major objectives of the programme include reducing the cost, weight, lead time, vehicle signature, and increasing space efficiency and vehicle availability within air, sea, and land domains through demonstration on three prototype platforms with variants for multiple functions and technologies; developing enabling technologies from TRL3 to TRL6 and demonstrating them on each domain platform representing relevant testing environments; and establishing an innovation Techwatch to identify promising technologies among SMEs and startups, including civil market innovations, providing access to funding and facilities through the Cascade Funding programme.
This webinar aims to support potential applicants to the MaJoR Cascade Funding Open Calls. It is provided for information purposes only and is not intended to replace consultation of any applicable legal sources. Neither the European Commission, the European Defence Agency, nor the MaJoR consortium (or any person acting on their behalf) can be held responsible for the use made of this guidance document.
The CASCADE Funding Open Call supports projects with a maximum duration of six months and provides up to €60,000 per recipient. Eligible applicants must be legal entities, such as SMEs or startups, established in EU27 countries, Norway, or Ukraine. The programme adheres strictly to the eligibility criteria of the EDF call beneficiaries, including ownership control, ethics, security, operational and financial capacity requirements, specificity of the call, and ensuring no conflicts of interest with MaJoR consortium partners.
Participants are encouraged to leverage the programme to accelerate technological development and bring innovative solutions to operational readiness across multiple transport and vehicle domains. By providing funding, guidance, and access to a network of expertise, the programme aims to bridge the gap between early-stage research and demonstrable technology deployment.
For more information, visit MaJoR.
