Next generation of Europe's defence innovations is about to be tested in Portugal. More than 200 innovators, military experts and end users from across Europe will experiment in realistic conditions with technologies such as unmanned systems, loitering munition or electronic communication. Organised jointly by the European Defence Agency (EDA) and the Portuguese Army, the EU OPEX campaign aims to accelerate the transition of innovative solutions into operational military capabilities.
From 28 September, over 40 companies, start-ups and innovation organisations will gather at Portugal's Santa Margarida Military Training Area to test emerging defence technologies as part of EU OPEX, Europe's flagship operational experimentation campaign.
The campaign brings together several European and national initiatives:
- EU OPEX – main European operational experimentation campaign. It puts advanced technologies into challenging, real-world conditions to gather evidence and help innovative solutions to mature into real capabilities.
- ARTEX 26 – Portuguese Army’s annual experimentation campaign connecting military, industry, academia and research organisations.
- BraveTech EU – EU-Ukraine defence innovation initiative supporting battlefield-inspired defence technologies.
- Sentinel Strike challenge – defence innovation contest focused on loitering munition systems. Five finalists are competing for €1.8 million prizes.
This year, the European initiatives are integrated into the Portuguese national campaign ARTEX 26. The exercises are organised jointly by the EDA's Hub for European Defence Innovation and the Army of Portugal.
Experimentation and scenarios
The first week includes stand-alone tests and single domain missions. Towards the end of the campaign, the scenarios will become more complex and will allow participants to experiment, test and evaluate the technologies in various scenarios across domains.
For example, military drones will conduct reconnaissance and surveillance missions in hostile environment and feed real-time data to commanders. The unmanned ground and aerial systems will be tasked to collaborate and safely transport supplies to troops in the front line. The loitering munition devices will have to engage with multiple targets at night.
Operational experimentation helps bridge the gap between innovation and military capability. By testing these solutions alongside military users in realistic field conditions, participants generate evidence on performance, interoperability and operational utility, helping armed forces identify solutions that could strengthen future capabilities.
EU OPEX and related initiatives will culminate in cross-domain field experiments on 7 and 8 October, followed by a High Visibility Event on 14 October. The demonstrations will bring together political leaders, military representatives, innovators and defence stakeholders. Visitors will observe live experimentation activities and discover European technologies that could shape the future of defence.
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