EU governments want to attract more investment in defence, but a lack of public funding and collaboration is holding industry back, business leaders said on Wednesday

Companies have until November to apply to take part in projects ranging from unmanned aircraft to secure space communications

The European Defence Fund was set up to support research and development, but it could be rolled into the proposed defence industrial programme, Timo Pesonen, director general for Defence Industry and Space, told MEPs

A €1.5B fund will help to scale up research projects and build supply chains, while a new legal structure will enable member states to facilitate cooperation across the whole life cycle of defence capabilities

The Commission president set out her vision for a new EU military-industrial-academic complex in a speech to MEPs on Wednesday