European Defence Agency

1. Standardise Interfaces, Not Drones
ID: IN-059
Lab: SCALE
Challenge: A single European drone design would become obsolete rapidly; total fragmentation prevents scale.
Lead actor: EDA / Member States
Supporting actors: NATO, industry, Ukraine
Timeframe: 12 months
KPI: Open standards adopted by participating states and required in relevant new mass-system tenders.

2. Shift European–Ukrainian defence cooperation from platform-specific procurement towards jointly developed, modular and interoperable capabilities.
ID: IN-126
Lab: SCALE
Challenge: Defence procurement is often organised around specific platforms and long development cycles. In a rapidly evolving battlefield, individual products can become obsolete before procurement programmes are completed.
Lead actor: European Defence Agency
Supporting actors: European Commission (DG DEFIS); NATO; Ukrainian Ministry of Defence; European and Ukrainian defence manufacturers; participating EU Member States
First step: Launch a joint European–Ukrainian capability-design initiative and select two priority capability areas for modular architecture, interoperability and joint upgrade roadmaps.
Timeframe: 12 months
KPI: The programme is launched and Ukraine has defined joint roadmap strategies with the EU and its Member States.

3. Make certification run in parallel with development and production, not after it. Certify safety-critical modules once (safe-and-arm device, warhead, datalink, flight controller) and reuse them across configurations. A software update or minor hardware change triggers only a "delta qualification" of the changed module, never a full re-qualification.
ID: IN-096
Lab: INNOVATION SPEED
Challenge: Full STANAG-type qualification of a new system takes about 2 years and high investments. Any engineering change can restart the cycle and the export paperwork. Industry is forced to choose between an up-to-date product and a certified one; on the battlefield this makes certified products obsolete before delivery.
Lead actor: European Defence Agency
Supporting actors: NATO and its relevant bodies, National defence procurement agencies
First step: EDA and NATO set up a working group with industry and test houses. It defines a modular certification baseline for strike systems, delta-qualification rules for software and minor hardware changes, and cross-recognition between national authorities.
Timeframe: 24 months
KPI: Re-qualification after a software or minor hardware change ≤ 6 weeks. Qualification of a new configuration built from certified modules ≤ 6 months (vs. about 24 months today). The baseline is adopted by at least 5 nations.

4. Accept test evidence once, across member states.
ID: IN-132
Lab: INNOVATION SPEED
Challenge: The same system is tested, certified and demonstrated again in every country. The evidence exists; the trust to accept it does not. Huge effort is spent on re-proving a known result and never reaches the product.
Lead actor: European Defence Agency
Supporting actors: National ministries of defence; NATO and its relevant bodies
First step: Pick three system categories, one of them counter-drone, name one lead test centre per category, publish one result format and accept the first foreign test report as valid.
Timeframe: 24 months
KPI: A system tested once is accepted in at least three member states without re-test; repeat testing hours fall by half on the pilot categories; time from test to national approval below 60 days.

5. Establish common connectivity, security and interoperability requirements across the Eastern Flank, enabling authorised sensors, unmanned systems and information services from different suppliers and neighbouring countries to operate across national fibre infrastructure and existing command-and-control systems.
ID: IN-121
Lab: RESILIENCE
Challenge: National pilots may demonstrate individual products without ensuring cross-border or cross-supplier compatibility. Different interfaces, assurance requirements and information-sharing rules cause duplicated assessments, expensive integration and vendor lock-in. A limited, testable common profile is needed before incompatible systems become entrenched.
Lead actor: European Defence Agency
Supporting actors: National ministries of defence; Armed forces and operational commands
First step: Within 100 days of programme approval, two neighbouring EU states appoint national owners and seek EDA coordination; establish a working group with infrastructure operators, cybersecurity authorities, military users and suppliers; select one interoperability use case and draft common interface, assurance, information-sharing and conformance requirements.
Timeframe: 12 months
KPI: Two states endorse a common interface and governance profile and complete an independently evaluated cross-border demonstration with at least two qualified suppliers and two system categories. Document integration time, compatibility defects and mutually accepted evidence; establish a profile owner and funded revision process.