Dual-use delivery—the ability to support both civilian and military or security applications with a common operational framework—is an increasingly relevant model for drone service providers in Europe. European Defence Fund programmes, civil protection initiatives, and critical infrastructure resilience projects all involve scenarios where the same operational capability serves both civilian and defence stakeholders.
Common operational framework, distinct governance
The core operational capabilities—drone operations, remote supervision, edge AI, system integration—are substantially similar across civilian and dual-use applications. What differs are the governance requirements: classification levels, access controls, information handling procedures, coordination protocols, and legal frameworks.
A dual-use service delivery model applies the same operational controls—governed autonomy, human authority, role-based access, audit-ready evidence capture—across both civilian and dual-use contexts, while varying the governance parameters to match the applicable requirements. This avoids the need to maintain entirely separate operational frameworks for civilian and dual-use delivery.
Scoping and boundary management
Each dual-use engagement requires explicit scoping: which capabilities are being provided, under what governance framework, with what access controls, and within what legal and policy boundaries. This scoping is a contractual and operational exercise, not a technical one. It defines the governance boundaries for the engagement and ensures that civilian and classified operational streams remain appropriately separated.
Boundary management is an ongoing responsibility, not a one-time setup. As engagements evolve, the governance boundaries must be reviewed and maintained to ensure continued compliance.
Civil–military coordination
In preparedness and resilience contexts, drone services may need to operate alongside both civilian and military actors. This requires an understanding of civil–military coordination protocols, information sharing frameworks, and command-and-control conventions. The drone service provider must be able to operate within multi-domain coordination structures while maintaining the governance controls required by each stakeholder.
This capability is built through experience: participation in exercises, engagement with civil protection and defence organisations, and iterative refinement of coordination procedures. It cannot be achieved through documentation alone.
Implications for procurement and programme delivery
For EU programmes and EDF initiatives, dual-use capability is a valued attribute. Service providers that can demonstrate the ability to support both civilian and dual-use applications—with clear governance controls and evidence of cross-domain experience—are well-positioned for consortium roles that span the civil–military boundary.
The key is demonstrating that governance boundaries are maintained through structural and procedural controls, not through informal practice. This requires explicit documentation, tested procedures, and evidence of operational discipline.
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