To mark this first year under the European Defence Fund (EDF), the GENIUS consortium met in Brussels for its General Assembly, hosted by the Royal Military Academy.
The GENIUS project, funded by the European Commission and coordinated by GMV, is developing an advanced system to improve the detection, classification, and neutralisation of explosive threats. By combining a broad range of sensors, unmanned platforms, and artificial intelligence, GENIUS aims to deliver high levels of accuracy and operational effectiveness in threat management.
The meeting brought together the consortium members to review the progress achieved during this first year of the project. The General Assembly also provided an opportunity for direct interaction with the European Commission’s Project Officer.
The work carried out by the consortium to date confirms the importance of cross-border collaboration in addressing complex defence challenges. It reinforces the consortium’s commitment to strengthening Europe’s defence technological and industrial base.
“The GENIUS consortium continues to make impressive and ambitious progress. The General Assembly in Brussels clearly demonstrated this. It was a pleasure to engage with the partners and interact with the robotics demonstration and test some of the technologies myself”, stated Giorgios Stavritis, Project Officer of the European Commission.
As host of the General Assembly, the Royal Military Academy provided the consortium with a guided tour of its robotics laboratories, including live demonstrations of key capabilities. The visit featured indoor drone flight testing, motion-capture systems, autonomous navigation supported by multi-sensor fusion, and counter-drone detection and tracking. In the maritime domain, participants were shown autonomous platforms for navigation and mine-detection missions, including an autonomous mine-grasping demonstration. The tour also highlighted the Academy’s laser and optronics facilities and its research using 3D-printed mines.
More information on GENIUS – next GEneration of IA and combat cloud systems for Neutralisation of Unexploded threatS:
A European Consortium
With 18 participating entities, the GENIUS project unites a diverse consortium, including 1 mid-cap coordinating the project, 3 large companies, 6 SMEs, 5 RTOs and 3 Academic Institutions from 7 EU Member States, fostering cross-sector collaboration.
GMV AEROSPACE AND DEFENCE SA (Coordinator – Spain), AALBORG UNIVERSITET, (Denmark), AIRBUS DEFENCE AND SPACE GMBH (Germany), APPLIED INTELLIGENCE ANALYTICS LIMITED (Ireland), AUREA AVIONICS (Spain), BARCELONA SUPERCOMPUTING CENTER – CENTRO NACIONAL DE SUPERCOMPUTACIÓN (Spain), C&V CONSULTING (Belgium), EVIDEN GERMANY GMBH (Germany), FRAUNHOFER INSTITUTE FOR APPLIED SOLID STATE PHYSICS IAF (Germany), HCR – CTRO (Croatia), INSTITUTO NACIONAL DE TECNICA AEROESPACIAL ESTEBAN TERRADAS (Spain), MBDA DEUTSCHLAND GMBH (Germany), NUMALIS (France), ROYAL MILITARY ACADEMY (Belgium), SPACE APPLICATIONS SERVICES (Belgium), UNIVERSITY OF THE BUNDESWEHR MUNICH (Germany), ULM UNIVERSITY (Germany), XENOMATIX (Belgium).
A Project Selected by the European Defence Fund
GENIUS project was selected by the European Commission for funding under the European Defence Fund (EDF) in 2023.
The EDF is the Commission’s instrument for supporting research and development actions in the defence sector. Its main objectives are to foster cooperation between companies, including SMEs, and Research and Technology Organisations (RTOs) throughout the Union, to promote the development of defence capabilities through investment, and to help EU companies develop advanced and interoperable defence technologies and equipment.
Learn more about the European Defence Fund here.