Agence de l'innovation de défense

Funds defense-related innovation in France by supporting dual-use technologies, cyber defense initiatives, and strategic security research.

Agence de l'innovation de defense (AID) is France's defense innovation agency. It was created on September 1, 2018 inside the Direction Generale de l'Armement under the Ministry of the Armed Forces, and it coordinates innovation across operations, equipment, support, and administration. The 2024-2030 Military Programming Law assigns EUR 10 billion to defense innovation, with AID handling a large share of that flow.

Its main routes are RAPID, ASTRID, ASMA, Theses AID, BraveTech EU, and EPERVIER. ASTRID and ASMA are implemented through ANR, while RAPID is a continuous dual-use innovation route and Theses AID supports roughly 100 to 130 doctoral allocations a year. Award sizes in the structured record reach EUR 400,000 for ASTRID, EUR 800,000 for ASMA, and EUR 1 million for BraveTech EU.

AID is aimed at teams working on space, maritime, information, cyber, aerospace, materials, energy, biotech, and photonics problems with clear defense value. The agency's posture is opportunistic and applied: it backs dual-use technologies that can move into operational use, rather than long-horizon basic research. For applicants, the best fit is a project with a concrete defense use case, a credible development plan, and enough maturity to clear a competitive ministry call.