LIST plays central role in Luxembourg's defence effort

Four research projects conducted by the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) have been selected to contribute to Luxembourg's defence effort.

The Luxembourg government set up an interministerial cooperation in 2022 between the Defence Directorate, the Ministry of the Economy and the Ministry of Higher Education and Research, as well as the National Research Fund (FNR) and Luxinnovation. This intrastate collaboration enabled the Luxembourg Defence Ministry to launch, in June 2022, the first national call for R&D projects in the field of defence.

This first call for projects targeted the space and materials sectors and was open to both companies and research centres in Luxembourg. Following the launch of the call, national players proposed 60 projects, including 16 in the materials sector and 44 in the space sector. In the end, 13 projects were selected for funding, including five in the field of materials and eight in space.

FOUR projects carried out by LIST

• Design and mechanical performance of nacre-like poly materials for ballistic applications (PROTEKK): this project revolves around high-performance composite materials with bio-inspired architecture offering improved impact resistance and produced by 3D printing.
• Ballistic armor from biofibers (SAFER) in collaboration with Uplift360: this project is about hybrid bio-based composite materials for ballistic protection with established end-of-life plan.
• Innovative manufacturing approach for in-situ consolidation of high-performance thermoplastic composite sandwich structure based on honeycomb core (INSHO) in collaboration with Euro-Composites: this project focuses on an innovative production process for honeycomb sandwich composites.
• Low-Latency Command and Control via LEO Satellites (LEONE): this project aims to develop and evaluate robust, reliable and efficient end-to-end systems and communication protocols that will enable autonomous vehicles to be remotely controlled and commanded via low-orbit satellites.

The selected projects will be funded for a maximum of three years.