On 2 October 2026 the European Commission reported that its 2026 European Defence Fund calls had drawn 612 proposals for an envelope of EUR 1.006 billion. Each proposal selected from that pool will become a grant in which several companies, research organisations and, in some cases, ministries share one action, one maximum Union contribution and one set of obligations towards the granting authority. Such a consortium is neither a single corporate debtor nor a loose collection of companies whose financial risks end with their own work packages. Technical performance, eligibility, payment flows, recovery, amendment and access to technology are connected within it but governed by different rules. When one participant stops performing, cannot substantiate expenditure, loses eligibility, becomes insolvent or cannot repay an amount received, the decisive question is therefore not simply whether its partners are jointly and severally liable. It is which obligation has failed, at what point in the grant life cycle, which entity owes money to whom, which option the signed agreement selected, and whether the remaining consortium can lawfully and technically finish the work without further Union funding. The financial recovery of public money and the continuity of a defence technology programme are separate problems: a debt can be recoverable while the development stalls, and a consortium can keep the work going while a beneficiary, the coordinator or a guarantor remains exposed to repayment.