This European Defence Fund (EDF) Development Action topic supports the maturation and demonstration of a Next Generation Military Integrated Modular Avionics (NG-MIMA) architecture for future manned and unmanned military aerial platforms (e.g., fighters, helicopters, and other mission aircraft). The call targets a single, highly integrated effort to bring a modular avionics system architecture to TRL 6 through prototyping and integration in a relevant environment.

The general objective is to enable enhanced integrated modular avionics (IMA) that can host new avionics functions while improving performance, safety, cybersecurity resilience, and interoperability. Future platforms are expected to operate as part of a system-of-systems, requiring far greater data sharing and processing than civil aviation solutions, together with defence-specific constraints such as SWaP (size, weight and power), multi-level security data flows, deterministic real-time response, and faster mission adaptability supported by DevSecOps-type development and multi-industrial workshare.

The specific objective is to increase the maturity of a system architecture in the context of NG-MIMA and to validate it via a full integrated demonstrator that covers multiple domains (safety critical, mission critical, best effort, networking, and interoperability). Proposals must define use cases and key performance indicators (KPIs) that demonstrate the architecture is platform-agnostic yet instantiable for different aerial systems. At least one prototype representative of an aerial system must be integrated. The work must also explain how the architecture scales to a system-of-systems approach and how development, integration, and validation cycles can be reduced versus traditional federated avionics.

Mandatory activities include: (1) integrating knowledge by reviewing and updating needs in light of previous IMA/avionics architecture work and OEM needs; identifying critical technologies and actions to reduce strategic dependencies and strengthen security of supply; and reusing relevant proofs-of-concept; (2) studies to close remaining technological gaps, analyse performance of the full demonstrator, and work toward a first candidate standard for next-generation military IMA covering computing (incl. graphical), networks, packaging, software layers (hypervisors, OS, middleware), system design, and associated tools; (3) design of a fully integrated demonstrator for an identified aerial system, including an explicit dependency assessment across hardware, interconnects, processes, materials, protocols, software layers, toolchains, frameworks, and test equipment, and identification of technologies needing additional development; and (4) system prototyping by building and evaluating the demonstrator against the defined KPIs. Optional activities include testing in a representative military environment and additional prototypes.

A key expectation is prioritising European and ITAR-free technologies and limiting critical dependencies on non-European components, software, and processes, thereby strengthening European security of supply. Proposals must also show synergies and complementarities with planned, ongoing, or completed activities from the related EDF-2023-DA-AIR-STFS topic.

Opening: 22.01.2026
Deadline(s): 29.09.2026