Index: src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/ear/AbstractEarMojo.java
===================================================================
--- src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/ear/AbstractEarMojo.java	(revision 792490)
+++ src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/ear/AbstractEarMojo.java	(working copy)
@@ -19,22 +19,30 @@
  * under the License.
  */
 
+import java.io.File;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.HashSet;
+import java.util.Iterator;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Set;
+
 import org.apache.maven.artifact.Artifact;
+import org.apache.maven.artifact.factory.ArtifactFactory;
+import org.apache.maven.artifact.resolver.ArtifactNotFoundException;
+import org.apache.maven.artifact.resolver.ArtifactResolutionException;
+import org.apache.maven.artifact.resolver.ArtifactResolver;
 import org.apache.maven.artifact.resolver.filter.ScopeArtifactFilter;
+import org.apache.maven.execution.MavenSession;
 import org.apache.maven.plugin.AbstractMojo;
 import org.apache.maven.plugin.MojoExecutionException;
 import org.apache.maven.plugin.MojoFailureException;
 import org.apache.maven.plugin.ear.util.ArtifactTypeMappingService;
 import org.apache.maven.project.MavenProject;
+import org.apache.maven.project.artifact.ActiveProjectArtifact;
+import org.apache.maven.project.artifact.InvalidDependencyVersionException;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.configuration.PlexusConfiguration;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.configuration.PlexusConfigurationException;
 
-import java.io.File;
-import java.util.ArrayList;
-import java.util.Iterator;
-import java.util.List;
-import java.util.Set;
-
 /**
  * A base class for EAR-processing related tasks.
  *
@@ -152,7 +160,48 @@
     private List allModules;
 
     private JbossConfiguration jbossConfiguration;
+    
+    /**
+     * If the executed project is a reactor project, this will contains the full list of projects in the reactor.
+     * 
+     * @parameter expression="${reactorProjects}"
+     * @required
+     * @readonly
+     */
+    protected List reactorProjects;
 
+    /**
+     * Indicator whether to use project references. Default true.
+     * 
+     * @parameter default-value="false"
+     */
+    protected boolean useProjectReferences;
+    
+    /**
+     * Artifact resolver. Used to resolve artifacts in local repository.
+     * 
+     * @component role="org.apache.maven.artifact.resolver.ArtifactResolver"
+     * @required
+     * @readonly
+     */
+    protected ArtifactResolver artifactResolver;
+    
+    /**
+     * Artifact factory. Used to determine dependencies.
+     * 
+     * @component role="org.apache.maven.artifact.factory.ArtifactFactory"
+     * @required
+     * @readonly
+     */
+    protected ArtifactFactory artifactFactory;
+    
+    /**
+     * Maven Session. Needed to determine local repository location.
+     * 
+     * @parameter expression="${session}"
+     */
+    protected MavenSession session;
+    
     public void execute()
         throws MojoExecutionException, MojoFailureException
     {
@@ -179,6 +228,20 @@
         {
             throw new MojoExecutionException( "Failed to initialize JBoss configuration", e );
         }
+        
+        // resolve dependencies if not already resolved.
+        try {
+        	if( null == project.getArtifacts() || project.getArtifacts().isEmpty() ) {
+        		getLog().info("Resolving project artifacts (" 
+        				+ (useProjectReferences ? "using" : "without") 
+        				+ " project references) ...");
+        		resolveDependencies();
+        	} else {
+        		getLog().info("Project artifacts already resolved.");
+        	}
+        } catch(Exception e) { // catch all exceptions
+        	throw new MojoExecutionException("error resolving dependencies", e);
+        }
 
         getLog().debug( "Initializing ear execution context" );
         EarExecutionContext.getInstance().initialize( project, mainArtifactId, defaultLibBundleDir, jbossConfiguration,
@@ -352,4 +415,95 @@
             }
         }
     }
+    
+    /**
+     * Resolv project dependencies.<br>
+     * If using project references, then try to resolv those first. First try to
+     * resolv them in the local repository, otherwise via reactor.
+     * Then try to resolv all unresolved dependencies via the local repository.
+     * Since it makes no sense for the ear project to include libraries which are
+     * not used by included projects, we assume all 3rd party libraries are already
+     * downloaded by the other projects, so no need to download them here. 
+     * <p>
+     * @throws InvalidDependencyVersionException 
+     * @throws ArtifactResolutionException 
+     * @throws ArtifactNotFoundException 
+     */
+    private void resolveDependencies() throws InvalidDependencyVersionException, ArtifactResolutionException, ArtifactNotFoundException {
+    	
+        Set unresolvedArtifacts = project.createArtifacts( artifactFactory, Artifact.SCOPE_TEST, null );
+
+        List remoteRepositories = new ArrayList(); // empty list of remote repo's
+        Set resolvedArtifacts = new HashSet();
+        Iterator it = unresolvedArtifacts.iterator();
+        while( it.hasNext() ) {
+        	Artifact artifact = (Artifact) it.next();
+        	
+        	// resolv artifact
+        	try {
+        		artifactResolver.resolve(artifact, remoteRepositories, session.getLocalRepository());
+        		resolvedArtifacts.add(artifact);
+        	} catch(ArtifactNotFoundException artifactException) {
+        		Artifact projectArtifact = null;
+        		if( useProjectReferences ) {
+        			// try to resolv artifact via reactor
+        			projectArtifact = getProjectArtifact( artifact );
+        		}
+        		if( null != projectArtifact ) {
+        			resolvedArtifacts.add( projectArtifact );
+        		} else {
+        			// rethrow exception
+        			throw artifactException;
+        		}
+        	}
+        }
+        
+        project.setArtifacts( resolvedArtifacts );
+    }
+    
+    /**
+     * Get artifact from reactor.
+     * 
+     * @param groupId
+     * @param artifactId
+     * @param version
+     * @param type
+     * @return Project artifact or null if not found
+     */
+    private Artifact getProjectArtifact(Artifact artifact) {
+    	
+    	String groupId = artifact.getGroupId();
+    	String artifactId = artifact.getArtifactId();
+    	String version = artifact.getVersion();
+    	String type = artifact.getType();
+    	
+    	ArtifactTypeMappingService artifactTypeMappingService = ArtifactTypeMappingService.getInstance();
+    	Iterator reactorIt = reactorProjects.iterator();
+    	while( reactorIt.hasNext() ) {
+    		MavenProject project = (MavenProject) reactorIt.next();
+    		
+    		if(project.getGroupId().equals( groupId) && project.getArtifactId().equals( artifactId )
+    				&& project.getVersion().equals( version ) 
+    				&& artifactTypeMappingService.isMappedToType( type, project.getPackaging() )) {
+    			
+    			Artifact projectArtifact = new ActiveProjectArtifact(project, artifact);
+
+    			// determine file extention. Default same as packaging.
+    			String extention = project.getPackaging();
+    			if("ejb".equals(project.getPackaging())) {
+    				// exception: for EJB projects is 'jar'
+    				extention = "jar";
+    			}
+    			String filename = project.getModel().getBuild().getDirectory() + 
+    					"/" + project.getModel().getBuild().getFinalName() + 
+    					"." + extention;
+    			File artifactFile = new File(filename);
+    			projectArtifact.setFile( artifactFile );
+    			projectArtifact.setResolved( true );
+    			
+    			return projectArtifact;
+    		}
+    	}
+    	return null;
+    }
 }
Index: src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/ear/GenerateApplicationXmlMojo.java
===================================================================
--- src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/ear/GenerateApplicationXmlMojo.java	(revision 792490)
+++ src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/ear/GenerateApplicationXmlMojo.java	(working copy)
@@ -37,7 +37,6 @@
  * @version $Id$
  * @goal generate-application-xml
  * @phase generate-resources
- * @requiresDependencyResolution test
  */
 public class GenerateApplicationXmlMojo
     extends AbstractEarMojo