The European Union faces a widening spectrum of threats, directly challenging its strategic autonomy and military readiness across all domains. Modernising defence capabilities is therefore an urgent imperative. Addressing this need head-on, the European Defence Fund has launched project MaJoR (Maintenance, Joining, and Repair innovation in multidomain defence). This ambitious initiative aims to fortify Europe’s future air, land, and sea platforms by developing next-generation technologies that dramatically enhance durability, mission capability, and sustainability.
MaJoR confronts a critical vulnerability: the strategic risk posed by obsolete platform designs, which weakens autonomy and cedes ground to global competitors. By 2030, the project will deliver new systems that are not only more capable but also more affordable, scalable, and sustainable in production and service. A core ambition is to energise the EU’s defence industrial base, particularly by integrating and empowering innovative small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The project’s approach is strategically designed for cross-domain impact. First, it will level the technological playing field, transferring advanced material and process expertise—like composite applications common in aerospace—to the naval and land domains. Second, it will push these technologies through practical demonstrators, targeting reductions in cost, weight, and lead time while boosting platform availability and efficiency. Third, it will leverage the consortium’s vast, synergistic expertise to accelerate development despite differing domain requirements.
Crucially, MaJoR will augment platform development with financial support for third-party SMEs. This will inject cutting-edge technologies and services into the project via funded developmental activities, fostering innovation and ensuring a robust, interconnected European supply chain. Ultimately, MaJoR is more than a research project; it is a catalyst for deeper European industrial cooperation, designed to secure the continent’s sovereign Defence Technological and Industrial Base for the future.
The consortium, coordinated by Royal NLR in the Netherlands, unites 38 entities from 10 Member States, including leading research centres, universities, large enterprises, and SMEs, forming a powerful cross-border defence network.
