Spanish research institute AITEX, based in Alicante, has been appointed consortium leader of a framework contract for the provision of services in the field of NBC protection research and technology by The European Defence Agency (EDA).

The European Union has approved its first-ever defence research budget, estimated at more than €7 billion for the period 2021-2027. The budget has been designed to foster an innovative and competitive industrial base to increase Europe’s military autonomy.

In order to implement the programme, Brussels designed a pilot programme called the Preparatory Action on Defence Research (PADR), to test the ability of European companies to undertake defence research projects.

AITEX is one of a handful of Spanish entities to lead a project within the initiative. Its R&D team has already been working on the Vestlife project, through which it has developed ballistic protection vest and which enable the European Commission to test how defence research can be integrated into its R&D programmes.

AITEX has dedicated research lines developing protective textiles against a range of hazards such as the detection, identification and monitoring of NBC risks.

Since 2012, the Institute has developed seven R&D projects for the EDA and this contract ensures the collaboration will run for another four years.

www.aitex.es