In 2009 the United States invested in defence R&T 3,6 times and in defence research and development 6,8 times as much
as all member states of the European Defence Agency (EDA) combined while the ratio in the total defence expenditure
was 2,6 in the US' favour. The European lack of investments in defence research and development has a negative impact
on the competitiveness of European defence industry and on the European non-dependence. In addition, the efficiency of
investment is reduced due to duplication of work in different member states. The Lisbon Treaty tasks EDA to support
defence technology research, and coordinate and plan joint research activities and the study of technical solutions
meeting future operational needs. This paper gives an overview how EDA meets the challenge of improving the
efficiency of European defence R&T investment with an emphasis on electro-optics and describes shortly the ways that
governmental and industrial partners can participate in the EDA cooperation. Examples of joint R&T projects addressing
electro-optics are presented.
This paper presents the main actors in the Finnish infrared research community in the Defense Forces, the civilian research institutes and industry. Within the Defence Forces, the Defence Forces Research Centre (PvTT) has a key role as the most important research institute dealing with military technology in Finland and as an integrator of civilian expertise. The basic research strategy of the Finnish Defense Forces is to rely on external research institutes (either domestic or foreign) and to concentrate its own resources only on the areas where external expertise is not available. Accordingly, the research focus of PvTT is on the signature research and the environmental conditions affecting the performance of infrared sensors. The paper also describes the work done at the Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT) and at various universities. The role of the Finnish defense industry has been fairly modest, but both its own products and recent technology transfer agreements may change the situation in the long run.
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