Armed forces and operational commands

1. Standardize operational procedures for how to detect, designate, and effect (engage/neutralize) aerial assets, across all participating states.
ID: IN-027
Lab: SCALE

2. Incentivize training for volunteer units (e.g. Estonian Defence League and similar volunteer military organizations) — based on results, participation, or other measurable metrics. Rewards should include better equipment, tools, machinery, or the chance to train abroad. Gamify the exercises the way Ukraine is gamifying the war.
ID: IN-029
Lab: SCALE

3. Make Drone Literacy Universal
ID: IN-068
Lab: SCALE
Challenge: Drones affect infantry, logistics, artillery, medicine and manoeuvre, not just drone specialists.
Lead actor: Armed forces
Supporting actors: Training commands, Ukrainian instructors
Timeframe: 12 months
KPI: 100% of new recruits receive basic drone-battlefield training.

4. Test relentlessly. Regular system testing, red team exercises, and incentives for successfully simulating a sabotage or attack.
ID: IN-028
Lab: INNOVATION SPEED

5. Put a Ukrainian unit into every military exercise as the opposing force. They will dominate the battlefield, and our officers will see with their own eyes how bad it really is. This is the single most important lesson — generals have egos, and destroying that ego is what drives real change.
ID: IN-030
Lab: INNOVATION SPEED

6. Exercise under full EW and drone threat. Deploy high-power jammers, spoofers, and other real-world battlefield conditions during exercises — don't simulate a sanitized battlefield.
ID: IN-037
Lab: INNOVATION SPEED

7. Deploy AI inside real mission workflows—not as isolated AI projects
ID: IN-053
Lab: INNOVATION SPEED
Challenge: Do not wait until every dataset is perfect, but also do not bolt AI onto poorly understood processes. Apply AI to bounded operational workflows where data, risk, authority, and human oversight can be controlled.
Lead actor: Armed forces and operational commands — designated mission owners
Supporting actors: National ministry of defence digital, data and AI offices; Ukrainian defence authorities and armed forces; procurement agencies; NATO bodies; research institutes; primes; SMEs and start-ups
First step: Choose three bounded mission workflows and run 90-day pilots with baseline KPIs, explicit human decision rights, audit logs, data and security rules, and stop criteria.
Timeframe: Select workflows within 90 days; complete operational evaluation within 6 months
KPI: At least two pilots improve an agreed operational KPI by at least 20% without a safety or security breach; only successful pilots receive field-deployment approval.

8. Test Every Month, Not Every Year
ID: IN-064
Lab: INNOVATION SPEED
Challenge: Testing infrastructure and exercises operate more slowly than drone technology develops.
Lead actor: National armed forces
Supporting actors: EDA, industry, Ukraine, research institutes
Timeframe: 12 months
KPI: At least 12 operational test cycles per year per designated test centre.

9. Create European Unmanned Experimental Formations
ID: IN-067
Lab: INNOVATION SPEED
Challenge: Innovation cannot be separated from training and doctrine.
Lead actor: National Chiefs of Defence
Supporting actors: Ministries of Defence, industry, universities, Ukraine
Timeframe: 12 months
KPI: Formation operational; minimum four major capability iterations per year.

10. Close the loop between soldier and engineer. Create joint capability-integration cells in drone units (incl. the German 45th Panzer Brigade in Lithuania and Lithuanian Armed Forces units). Embed industry engineers with these units, run fixed 6-week cycles (field signal → fix → batch), and integrate new equipment into training and tactics in parallel with its delivery.
ID: IN-098
Lab: INNOVATION SPEED
Challenge: The bottleneck is not only collecting feedback but turning it into fielded capability. Field feedback reaches European manufacturers late and unstructured. Military integration of new hardware (training, tactics, procedures) typically takes 6–18 months after delivery, so factories risk producing for empty warehouses. Ukraine's edge is the loop: days to feedback, weeks to adaptation.
Lead actor: Armed forces and operational commands
Supporting actors: Defence SMEs and start-ups, Ukrainian defence authorities and armed forces
First step: Launch one pilot integration cell in a Lithuanian drone unit with industry engineers embedded. Agree a common field-data reporting format and a 6-week release rhythm. Draw on Ukrainian Unmanned Systems Forces practice.
Timeframe: 100 days
KPI: Field issue to fielded fix ≤ 6 weeks. New equipment operational in the unit ≤ 3 months after delivery (vs. 6–18 months). At least 4 release cycles completed in the first 6 months of the pilot.

11. Develop, define and use common and open architectures.
ID: IN-110
Lab: INNOVATION SPEED
Challenge: Developing new interfaces is complex and hinders the implementation of Multi-Domain Operations (MDO). It distracts from actual innovation and ties up financial resources.
Lead actor: Armed forces and operational commands
Supporting actors: NATO and its relevant bodies; National ministries of defence
First step: Evaluate where common architectures would be useful.
Timeframe: 12 months
KPI: Shortlist of useful architectures available.

12. Create exchange platforms for communicating current operational challenges and problems.
ID: IN-112
Lab: INNOVATION SPEED
Challenge: Some current challenges are not brought to the attention of innovative organisations, preventing them from developing innovative solutions.
Lead actor: Armed forces and operational commands
Supporting actors: Ukrainian defence authorities and armed forces; National ministries of defence
First step: Develop the design and format of the platform.
Timeframe: 100 days
KPI: Platform design available and ready for implementation.

13. Establish a Common European Logistics and Mobility Framework
ID: IN-003
Lab: RESILIENCE
Challenge: The lessons learned from Ukraine highlight the importance of military logistics, decentralized sustainment, fuel supply resilience, and scalable mobility solutions.
Lead actor: National ministries of defence
Supporting actors: NATO and its relevant bodies, European Defence Agency
First step: Agree a common European baseline for vehicle interfaces, diagnostics, maintenance, spares and interoperability.
Timeframe: 12 months
KPI: Baseline agreed within 12 months and used in ≥80% of new participating platform requirements

14. Adopt a Cost-per-Kill Doctrine
ID: IN-069
Lab: RESILIENCE
Challenge: Europe can win individual engagements while losing the economic exchange.
Lead actor: National Chiefs of Defence / NATO
Supporting actors: Ministries of Defence, EDA, industry
Timeframe: 12 months
KPI: Cost-exchange ratio included in all relevant counter-UAS procurement evaluations.