European Union Kicks off Leonardo-led Maritime Defence Research Project

Leonardo announced today the signature of the grant agreement for OCEAN2020, a project related to the initiative to boost Europe's defence research under the European Defence Fund.

"OCEAN2020 will make it possible to promote technological research in a sector of great interest and relevance for Europe and for the Mediterranean area in particular, such as maritime safety,” said Alessandro Profumo, CEO of Leonardo.

The initiative is funded by the European Union and implemented by the European Defence Agency, the latter acting as contracting authority, under the ‘Preparatory Action on Defence Research’ programme.

The signing took place at the European Commission in the presence of the European Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, Elzbieta Bienkowska, and Leonardo's CEO, Alessandro Profumo.

The project which will be funded by a grant totaling around EUR 35 million will be led by Leonardo, which will coordinate a consortium composed of 42 partners from 15 European countries.

The European Commission's proposal i aimed at providing the European Defence Fund with a budget of EUR 1.5 billion a year to develop cutting-edge defence technology and reduce dependence upon the United States for acquiring the latest weaponry.