---
title: Europe Is Testing Attack Drones in a Contest That Promises No One a Contract
description: More than 140 organisations applied to the European Defence Agency contest. Five will field-test loitering munitions in Portugal, with no contract on offer to anyone.
author: Darie Nani (Editor-in-Chief)
updated: 2026-07-30T13:22:36.739Z
canonical: https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/eda-sentinel-strike-challenge-loitering-munitions
image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/eda-sentinel-strike-uncrewed-launcher-70353.webp
categories: Politics
content_type: News
region: Europe
publication: Sovereign Magazine
schema_type: Article
---

The European Defence Agency has just picked five weapons to test and told everyone in advance that it will not be buying any of them.

On 29 July the agency named the five companies that will take loitering munitions to the Santa Margarida military training area in Portugal this autumn, where military users from EU member states will run them through the same scenarios and compare the results. The agency is not buying anything. It says so plainly.

"The successful selection for the second stage of the challenge does not mean that the technologies are ready to be purchased or deployed," the agency's [published notice](https://eda.europa.eu/news-and-events/news/2026/07/29/eda-names-five-finalists-for-loitering-munition-challenge) reads. "It means they have earned the chance to be tested under more demanding conditions. The challenge is not a procurement competition and does not promise contracts to its winners. Its purpose is to generate evidence that defence ministries can use when deciding which technologies could contribute to future capabilities."

## More than 140 organisations applied and ten won money

Stage 1 of the Sentinel Strike Challenge drew more than 140 expressions of interest from across Europe, assessed against administrative, technical and award criteria covering technical maturity, operational relevance, safety and demonstration feasibility.

The five highest-ranked submissions came from Helsing in Germany, Destinus in the Netherlands, C-Astral in Slovenia, UAVision in Portugal and Spirit Aeronautical Systems in Greece. Each takes a €30,000 Stage 1 prize and a place in the field tests. The next five in the top ten, Renegade UxS and Robotto in Denmark, Cerberon Defence Systems in Germany, THALES LAS in France and ALTUS LSA in Greece, each take €10,000 and stop there. The five finalists go on to compete for a further €1,800,000 in total.

The ten prizes went to companies in seven countries, and they were awarded on written proposals alone.

## Soldiers do the assessing, in conditions chosen to be difficult

The tests run inside the agency's Operational Experimentation Campaign 2026, alongside the Portuguese Army's own ARTEX26 exercise, from 28 September to 9 October. The agency describes the conditions as controlled, realistic and contested.

What gets measured is broader than whether the systems fly. Military users will assess how each performs across the full mission cycle, from planning and launch through target detection, engagement and post-strike assessment, how resilient it is under operational conditions, and how it compares against the others tested in the same scenarios. The agency's stated reason for running every system through identical scenarios is that it gives member states comparable data, which separate demonstrations do not produce.

## The contest exists because the technology is moving faster than the paperwork

The agency puts the reasoning bluntly. "Recent conflicts have turned loitering munitions into a rapidly evolving military capability," it says, "with technological advances and battlefield adaptations often outpacing traditional development cycles." As new systems arrive and the technology moves, it argues, understanding how they behave in realistic conditions matters more.

So the stated objective runs past the five companies involved. Beyond identifying the best-performing systems, the agency says the challenge aims to improve how emerging technologies are evaluated before they are considered for future capability development, with military users involved throughout rather than consulted at the end.

The results in Portugal decide the overall winners of the Sentinel Strike Challenge, expected to be announced in 2027.

## FAQ

**Q: What is a loitering munition?**
The European Defence Agency describes it as a type of attack drone that searches for a target before striking. The systems entered in this competition are complete systems, assessed across the full precision strike mission cycle from mission planning and launch through target detection, engagement and post-strike assessment.

**Q: Does winning the Sentinel Strike Challenge lead to a contract?**
No. The agency states that the challenge is not a procurement competition and does not promise contracts to its winners, and that selection for stage two does not mean a technology is ready to be purchased or deployed. Its stated purpose is to produce evidence defence ministries can use when deciding which technologies could contribute to future capabilities.

**Q: Where and when does the testing happen?**
At the Santa Margarida military training area in Portugal, from 28 September to 9 October 2026, within the agency's Operational Experimentation Campaign 2026 and alongside the Portuguese Army's ARTEX26 exercise. Overall winners are expected to be announced in 2027.