Request for Proposals: Next Generation ATS Platforms for En-Route and TMA Operations

Deadline: 16 September 2025

The European Commission is accepting proposals for the Next Generation ATS Platforms for En-Route and TMA Operations Topic.

Scope

Research aims at developing the next generation of ATS platforms both for en-route and TMA environments, considering state-of-the-art ground technologies while leveraging innovative solutions and new aircraft capabilities aiming to achieve level 4 of automation as outlined in the Master Plan and by considering a Trustworthy AI approach. The targeted ATS platforms shall enable the following capabilities:
- Ensuring that all flights/missions (crewed or uncrewed) operate in a way that maximises, to the fullest extent, aircraft capabilities to reduce the overall climate impact of aviation (CO2 and non-CO2).
- Ensuring that each flight trajectory is optimised considering the individual performance characteristics of each aircraft, user preferences, real-time traffic, local circumstances, and meteorological conditions throughout the network. This optimisation shall be systematic, continuous (from planning to execution phase), and extremely precise.
- Potential conflicts between trajectories or traffic bottlenecks are resolved much earlier than today, bringing safety benefits.
- Service providers can dynamically and collaboratively scale capacity up or down in line with demand by all airspace users. These capacity adjustments are implemented in real time and ensure optimal and efficient dual (both civil and military) use of resources at any moment across the network (airspace, data, infrastructure, and human-machine teaming).
- End-points, data connection and ecosystem (considering civil-military needs) are cybersecure thanks to the enhancement of information security such as, but not limited to, strong identification, authentication and integrity. Post-quantum cryptography (PQC) algorithms83F 84 should be considered where appropriate. Research shall consider the on-going work by ICAO on the international aviation trust framework (IATF), which aims at developing standards and harmonised procedures for a digitally seamless sky and dependable information exchange between all parties.
- The continuous optimisation of every flight/mission from gate to gate is systematically guaranteed thanks to high connectivity between air-ground and ground-ground components.
- The human operator is performing only the tasks that are too complex for automation to handle, teaming up with automation.
- Voice communication is no longer the primary way of communicating and most routine tasks should be managed through machine-to-machine applications.
- To enable TBO Phase 3 in a highly automated ATM environment in accordance with the TBO and automation roadmaps in the ATM MP.

Funding Information

Budget (EUR) – Year 2025: 93 000 000
Contributions: 9000000 to 31000000.

Expected Outcomes

To significantly advance the following development actions:
- IR-3-01 Next generation ATC platform addresses the next generation ATC platform, fully leveraging aircraft capabilities. This includes supporting a data-sharing service delivery model, resilient integrated CNS/MET as a service, traffic synchronisation, etc., accommodating the specific needs of the military, innovative air mobility (IAM), higher airspace operations (HAO), and U-space, etc.
- IR-3-02 Artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities enabling the next generation platforms.
- IR-3-03 Cyber-resilience and cyber-security capabilities enabling the next generation platforms.
- IR-3-04 Separation management for high levels of automation.
- IR-3-05 Demand capacity balancing (DCB) and airspace configuration concepts for high levels of automation.
- IR-3-06 Future human – machine teaming.
- IR-3-07 Ground capabilities for reducing ATM environmental footprint. This includes climate-optimised trajectories including non-CO2 effects (e.g., contrails), environmentally optimised climb and descent operation, advanced required navigation performance green approaches, dynamic allocation of arrival and departure routes considering noise and local air quality, green ATC capacity concept, flexible eco-friendly clearances, wake energy retrieval (WER), integration of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and zero emissions aircraft, environmental performance dashboards, etc.
- IR-1-01 Integrated air/ground trajectory management based on ATS-B2 including the extension for lower airspace and airport surface.
This includes advancing the capabilities of the following systems:
- Ground systems: core ATS platforms for en-route and TMA operations.

Specific minimum requirements for this topic

Consortia for this topic shall include:
- At least three ANSPs.
- Either an established ATS system manufacturer or provide evidence that the consortium has the operational and technical capability to build the ATS system prototypes required for the research at the required maturity level.
The proposed target architecture shall be aligned with the service delivery model outlined in the Master Plan for a typical A.

Eligibility Criteria

Entities eligible to participate:
- Entities eligible to participate Any legal entity, regardless of its place of establishment, including legal entities from nonassociated third countries or international organisations (including international European research organisations) is eligible to participate (whether it is eligible for funding or not), provided that the conditions laid down in the Horizon Europe Regulation have been met, along with any other conditions laid down in the specific call/topic.
- A ‘legal entity’ means any natural or legal person created and recognised as such under national law, EU law or international law, which has legal personality and which may, acting in its own name, exercise rights and be subject to obligations, or an entity without legal personality .
Entities eligible for funding :
- To become a beneficiary, legal entities must be eligible for funding. To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the following countries:
  - the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions:
    - Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden.
  - the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States:
    - Aruba (NL), Bonaire (NL), Curação (NL), French Polynesia (FR), French Southern and Antarctic Territories (FR), Greenland (DK), New Caledonia (FR), Saba (NL), Saint Barthélemy (FR), Sint Eustatius (NL), Sint Maarten (NL), St. Pierre and Miquelon (FR), Wallis and Futuna Islands (FR).
  - countries associated to Horizon Europe;
    - Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Iceland, Israel, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Tunisia, Türkiye, Ukraine, United Kingdom.