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1. The Fund shall be implemented by means of annual work programmes as referred to in Article 110(2) of the Financial Regulation. Work programmes shall set out, where applicable, the overall amount reserved for blending operations. Work programmes shall set out the overall budget benefiting the cross-border participation of SMEs.

2. The Commission shall, by means of implementing acts, adopt the work programmes referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 34(2).

3. The work programmes shall set out in detail the research topics and the categories of actions to be supported by the Fund. Those categories shall be in line with the defence priorities referred to in Article 3. With the exception of the part of the work programme dedicated to disruptive technologies for defence, the research topics and categories of actions referred to in the first subparagraph shall cover defence products and technologies in the fields of:

(a) preparation, protection, deployment and sustainability;

(b) information management and superiority, and command, control, communication, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR), cyber defence and cybersecurity; and (c) engagement and effectors.

4. The work programmes shall contain functional requirements where appropriate and shall specify the form of Union funding under Article 8, while not preventing competition at the level of calls for proposals. The transition of results of research actions demonstrating added value already supported by the Fund into the development phase may also be taken into consideration in the work programmes.