Ukraine's Brave1 defense technology cluster and France's Defense Innovation Agency (AID) launched the Brave France joint defense innovation program with a $22 million budget. Ukraine and France first announced their intention to create Brave France in February 2026, with the final launch agreement signed at Eurosatory 2026, Ukraine's Defense Ministry announces.
Brave France extends Ukraine's growing network of bilateral defense innovation partnerships with European NATO members, following the May 2026 launch of Brave Germany with Berlin.
AID Director Patrick Aufort and Brave1 Operations Director Iryna Zabolotna signed the agreement, with French Minister of Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs Catherine Vautrin in attendance.
The parties are currently coordinating the list of priority topics, technical requirements for projects, and forming a joint executive board and expert commissions.
Brave France funds joint Ukrainian-French drone, missile, and air defense development
The program's primary focus areas align with Ukraine's most urgent battlefield needs and France's defense-industrial priorities. The maximum grant size of $1.1 million per project is designed to support both early-stage technology development and scaling of proven systems toward production.
Both AID and Brave1 will share oversight through joint expert commissions and an executive board currently being formed.
The September 2026 launch date for the first competitions gives the joint executive board approximately three months to finalize priority topics and technical requirements before opening applications to Ukrainian and French defense companies.
Test in Ukraine platform integrates battlefield validation into Brave France
A key element of Brave France will be integration with the Test in Ukraine platform, which allows foreign manufacturers to test new defense technologies in conditions close to actual combat. Ukraine's Defense Ministry offered the same Test in Ukraine framework to Germany earlier this year, with foreign manufacturers sending products to Ukraine, providing online training, and receiving operational reports from Ukrainian forces who deploy them.
The Brave France program will use the Test in Ukraine framework to accelerate the identification of technologies suitable for Ukraine's Defense Forces. The combined approach gives French defense manufacturers access to battlefield validation data while channeling Ukrainian frontline experience into joint product development.
The bilateral programs operate alongside ongoing co-production frameworks announced at Eurosatory 2026, including the Swedish-Ukrainian AIDronesUA-Njord Technology partnership for joint production of MAUL ground robots.
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