Prize Contest
Loitering Munitions
"Sentinel Strike Challenge"

EDA, through its Hub for European Defence Innovation (HEDI), has launched the Loitering Munitions “Sentinel Strike Challenge”, a Prize Contest to support the operational experimentation of emerging loitering munition capabilities in Europe.

This challenge aims to:

• Generate  comparable  operational evidence on the performance, resilience, reliability, safety and operational suitability of complete loitering munition systems.
• Support Member States in capability planning, requirement refinement and potential future cooperative activities.
• Assess systems in realistic, degraded and contested operational environments.
• Provide a space to industry to demonstrate full loitering munition systems under controlled military experimentation conditions.
• Strengthen European defence innovation by bringing together operational users, technical experts, industry and national authorities.
Winners of Stage 1 will be invited to the operational experimentation campaign EU OPEX in Portugal.

Who can participate?

• Eligible systems: Class I Aerial Loitering Munitions
• Maximum take-off mass: up to 25 kg
• Operational range: up to 40 km
• Systems assessed across the full precision strike mission cycle: mission planning, deployment, launch, target detection and identification, tracking, engagement and post-strike assessment. 

Current Status

 Legal/Procurement information

Contest procedure 

Applications received after the deadline, or submitted to a different email address, will be considered non-admissible.

Important procurement notice 

This Prize Contest is governed by Title IX on Prizes (Financial Regulation 2024/2509) and constitutes neither a procurement procedure within the meaning of Title VII nor a grant within the meaning of Title VIII of that Regulation. The Challenge is intended to provide participating Member States with reliable and comparable operational evidence on loitering munition capabilities.

The total prize budget is EUR 2,000,000, divided as follows:

• Stage 1 prizes: up to EUR 200,000
• Stage 2 prizes: up to EUR 1,800,000

Two-stage structure 

Indicative timeline 

Procurement compliance note 

Consistent with the Rules of Contest, only clarifications published on this page shall constitute official clarifications for the Prize Contest. Any contacts or informal exchanges between an applicant/participant and EDA, other than those expressly permitted under the Rules of Contest are prohibited and shall result in exclusion of the applicants/participants.

Technical and operational information 

Eligible system scope 

The Challenge is open to complete Class I Aerial Loitering Munition systems. Isolated components or subsystems are not eligible.

To be eligible, a system must:

• Have a maximum take-off mass (MTOM) of up to 25 kg
• Have an operational range of up to 40 km
• Constitute a complete, integrated loitering munition capability
• Support the full precision strike mission cycle

Mission cycle 

The Rules of Contest define the capability challenge around the end-to-end precision strike mission cycle and list these mission activities.

Experimentation environment 

Stage 2 trials will take place at the Santa Margarida Military Training Area, Portugal, within the framework of the HEDI Operational Experimentation Campaign 2026 (OPEX26-1 PT), conducted in conjunction with the Portuguese Army’s ARTEX26 technological experimentation exercise.

The environment is a controlled military experimentation setting. Demonstrations may include live-fire activity, subject to applicable safety requirements and authorisations from the Host Nation.

Operational campaign dates 

Planning assumptions per the Rules of Contest; all dates subject to confirmation

Safety and acceptance gates 

Pre-Trial System Acceptance (PTSA) is a mandatory pass/fail gate that must be completed before any operational trials begin. Systems that do not meet applicable safety, regulatory, configuration or technical maturity requirements may be excluded from operational trials.

Formal Stage 2 scoring begins only after successful PTSA and confirmation of Host Nation authorisation.

Security note

This page contains only information approved for public release. Additional operational, logistical, safety or range-specific information may be provided directly to confirmed Stage 2 participants by EDA through appropriate channels. 

Publicity rules 

Any communications activity by winners relating to the contest, including on social media, is subject to prior EDA approval, unless EDA has specifically requested or agreed otherwise.

All winner communications must display the EDA logo and include the acknowledgement text specified in the Rules of Contest.

EDA is authorised to publish the names of winners and finalists, their locality, the prize amount, and the nature and purpose of the prize, unless a waiver is justified on grounds of security, safety or commercial interest.

Legal, data protection & confidentiality 

Unless indicated otherwise, personal data will be processed by EDA solely for evaluation purposes in accordance with the Rules of Ccontest (see section 4.6 Data Protection and Confidentiality). Details concerning the processing of your personal data are available in the privacy statement at: http://www.eda.europa.eu/docs/default-source/procurement/privacy-statement.pdf 

Once EDA has received an application, it shall become the property of EDA and shall be treated confidentially.