Poland’s Military University of Technology participates in developing tomorrow’s defense capabilities under EDF projects

On Friday, April 24, 2026, the Military University of Technology (WAT) announced that MIDAS, an AI platform for defense applications; R3DSurfin, 3D printing for military purposes; and SWORD, an anti-submarine warfare system, are three projects involving the university that will be financed by the European Defence Fund (EDF).

Image: WAT

In mid-April 2026, the European Commission approved the latest projects for funding from the EDF. The fund is the European Union’s main instrument supporting research and development cooperation in the defense sector.

Agreements with the 57 selected consortia will be signed by the end of 2026. The projects have been divided into 17 thematic areas, with counter-drone defense, eastern flank security, air defense, and the space domain identified as key priorities. Polish entities are participating in 27 projects with a total value of approximately 571 million EUR. The Military University of Technology is involved in three of them.

A platform using artificial intelligence (AI) designed specifically for defense applications is being developed under the MIDAS (Middleware for Intelligent Defense AI Dialogue Systems) project, led by Marcin Kowalski, DSc, PhD, Eng., Associate Professor at WAT from the Institute of Optoelectronics. The project’s EU budget amounts to EUR 5 million, the coordinating entity is based in Greece, and the Polish participant, alongside WAT, is the Polish Platform for Homeland Security.

“We are integrating large language models (LLMs) with defense operations so that they become reliable and transparent elements of decision-support systems. These models will no longer be isolated back-office tools, but will be embedded in operational workflows. Operators will communicate with them in a secure, role-based manner. The modular design and structured feedback processes form the basis for the gradual deployment of AI capabilities in defense environments, in line with operational needs and regulatory obligations,” said Marcin Kowalski, DSc, PhD, Eng., from the Institute of Optoelectronics.

The anti-submarine warfare system being developed under the SWORD (Stand-off Anti-Submarine Warfare Operations by Remote Deployment) project is intended to operate continuously in all weather conditions. It will have a small footprint and will be suitable for use on many combat platforms. The project is led by Kamil Sybilski, PhD, Eng., from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering (WIM). The project’s EU budget amounts to EUR 20 million, and the coordinating entity is from Germany.

“From sensor to shooter – in such a chain, underwater targets will be detected, tracked, classified, and engaged from a safe distance of at least 40 nautical miles. In the SWORD project, the innovation will be the use of a VLWT missile, a compact supersonic ASROC anti-submarine rocket, as well as the development of a comprehensive system with a low false-alarm rate and high localization accuracy. In this project, WAT is responsible for analyzing current systems for delivering unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to deploy sensors, conducting simulations of platform performance for various scenarios and conditions, and identifying potential technological gaps,” explained Kamil Sybilski, PhD, Eng., from the Institute of Mechanics and Computational Engineering of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering.

Metal 3D printing techniques that could be used, for example, to manufacture spare parts and technical materiel for the military will be developed under the R3DSurfin project (Towards Robust 3D Printed Metallic Components Production for Military Applications by the Development of Innovative Surface Finishing and Design Protocols), led by Krzysztof Grzelak, PhD, Eng., from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering (WIM) of the Military University of Technology. The project’s EU budget amounts to EUR 3.7 million, and it is coordinated by an entity from Spain.

“We will develop a complementary manufacturing process for components including weapons and military equipment using additive technologies, namely 3D printing with metals such as steel, aluminum, and titanium alloys used in defense. The project will produce new hardware and software. We will also develop guidelines for design and surface finishing, as well as final processing methods that take into account the conditions of metal 3D printing and the shape of the part. WAT will examine how innovative post-processing techniques, such as electrochemical polishing (EP) and magnetorheological polishing fluid (MPF), affect the fatigue life of printed parts,” explained Krzysztof Grzelak, PhD, Eng., from the Institute of Robots and Machine Design at WIM.

The projects selected by the European Commission under EDF 2025, broken down by individual thematic areas, are available HERE.

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