PURPOSE OF THE PRIZE CONTEST
EDA, through its Hub for European Defence Innovation (HEDI), has launched the Loitering Munitions “Sentinel Strike Challenge”, a Prize Contest designed to support the operational experimentation of emerging loitering munition capabilities in Europe.
This initiative aims to:
- Generate operational evidence: Produce objective and comparable evidence on the performance, resilience, reliability, safety and operational suitability of complete loitering munition systems.
- Support Member States: Provide trusted evidence to support capability planning, requirement refinement and potential future cooperative activities.
- Test in realistic conditions: Assess systems in realistic, degraded and contested operational environments.
- Demonstrate complete systems: Enable selected industry participants to demonstrate full loitering munition systems under controlled military experimentation conditions.
- Strengthen defence innovation: Bring together operational users, technical experts, industry and national authorities to support Europe’s defence innovation ecosystem.
SCOPE OF THE PRIZE CONTEST
The EDA invites applications for the operational experimentation of Class I Aerial Loitering Munitions, with:
Maximum take-off mass: up to 25 kg
Operational range: up to 40 km
Participating systems will be assessed across the full precision strike mission cycle, including:
- Mission planning
- Deployment
- Launch
- Target detection and identification
- Target tracking
- Engagement
- Post-strike assessment
The Challenge will focus on complete loitering munition systems that combine intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, navigation and precision strike functions within a single capability.
PARTICIPATION PROCESS
The Prize Contest is structured in two stages.
Stage 1 – Technical Proposal Assessment
Eligible applicants will submit technical proposals for evaluation.
Up to ten Stage 1 prizes may be awarded.
The five highest-ranked Stage 1 winners will be invited to proceed to Stage 2.
Stage 2 – Operational Experimentation Campaign
Selected participants will deploy and demonstrate their systems during the operational experimentation campaign.
Systems will be assessed during field experimentation and through final reports and experimentation results.
The campaign is expected to take place in September - October 2026 in Portugal, within the framework of the HEDI Operational Experimentation Campaign 2026, in conjunction with the Portuguese Army’s ARTEX26 technological experimentation exercise. Trials are expected to be conducted at the Santa Margarida Military Training Area, including live-fire demonstrations.
TARGET AUDIENCE
The Prize Contest is aimed at eligible industry participants capable of providing and demonstrating complete Class I Aerial Loitering Munition systems.
The initiative is particularly relevant for companies developing loitering munition capabilities suitable for operational experimentation in realistic military environments and for observation by European defence stakeholders.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
This is a Prize Contest, not a standard procurement procedure.
The Challenge is intended to provide Member States with reliable, comparable operational evidence on loitering munition capabilities.
The maximum total prize budget is EUR 2,000,000, divided as follows:
Stage 1 prizes: up to EUR 200,000
Stage 2 prizes: up to EUR 1,800,000
Applications submitted after the deadline or sent to a different email address will be considered non-admissible.
The Rules of Contest with full details, including eligibility requirements, technical admission criteria, award criteria and submission procedures, are available after registration.
SUBMISSION DETAILS AND CONTACT POINT
Applications must be submitted by email to:
[email protected]
The deadline for receipt of applications is:
Thursday, 04 June 2026 at 12:00 Brussels time
The Prize Contest documentation is available for download through the EDA pre-registration link:
Pre-registration for the Sentinel Strike Challenge Prize Contest
INDICATIVE TIMETABLE
June 2026: Evaluation of Stage 1 applications
July 2026: Notification of Stage 1 prize winners and invitations to Stage 2
September-October 2026: Operational experimentation campaign in Portugal
January/February 2027: Award ceremony
PROTECTION OF PERSONAL DATA
Processing of personal data for submission purposes is expected to comply with relevant EDA data protection regulations and policies, as further detailed in the Rules of Contest and related procurement documentation.