The Ministry of Defence has published the Defence Technology and Innovation Strategy (ETID 2026), the instrument that provides a comprehensive framework guiding defence R&D&I policy. The ETID aims to ensure that Spain is equipped with Armed Forces possessing technologically advanced capabilities and supported by a strong, innovative Defence Industrial and Technological Base capable of sustaining national strategic autonomy, in a context shaped by rapid technological advancement, strategic competition and the emergence of new threats.

The Strategy is aligned with the National Defence Directive, the Defence Policy Directive, the National Security Strategy and the Defence Industrial Strategy, and reinforces coherence with national science policy by being fully integrated into the Spanish Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation 2021–2027.

ETID 2026 combines the prioritisation of key technologies with the greatest impact on the operability and modernisation of the Armed Forces, the promotion of national and international technological cooperation—particularly within European and transatlantic frameworks—and the continuous improvement of the processes and instruments underpinning defence innovation.

Overall, the ETID provides a coherent and ambitious framework to transform R&D&I investment into real capabilities, strengthen the competitiveness of the national technological ecosystem, and reinforce Spain’s strategic and industrial autonomy.

The strategy document is available at the following link.

Image: cover of the strategy (source: DIGEID)