Our latest analytical report is from our Call for Expert Reports is delivered under the Markets and Standards Observatory. The report focuses on the growing threat from low-cost, commercial UAVs used for surveillance, smuggling, and attacks on critical infrastructure and public spaces, creating a need for counter-UAV solutions with civilian applications. Current barriers to further innovation in this area include gaps in the regulatory and certification framework for civilian use, challenges in interoperability between systems, alongside a lack of funding and procurement opportunities to progress innovations to higher TRL levels and market-ready solutions.
Recommendations to address this challenge include,
- Developing a harmonised legal framework for C-UAS deployment
- Creating a C-UAS certification pathway
- Adopting innovation procurement mechanisms
- Creating an instrument to scale up C-UAS investment
- Adopting interoperability by design approaches
This report was prepared by External Expert Enrique de Nova.
Read the report: From Lab to Field: Structural Barriers to the Deployment of RF-Based Counter-UAS Systems for Critical Infrastructure Protection in the EU
Executive Summary
The European Union faces a growing and asymmetric threat from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) targeting critical infrastructure, public spaces, and defence installations. Commercial drones available for as little as EUR 500 have been used for surveillance, smuggling, and armed attacks, with repeated incursions documented at NATO facilities and civilian airports across Member States. The CER Directive, NIS2, the EU AI Act, and the EASA U-space Regulation create clear obligations for infrastructure operators. The market has not produced commensurate operational solutions.
The EU C-UAS landscape has a growing number of technically validated counter-drone technologies at Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) 3 to 6. TRL is a scale from 1 to 9 used by the EU to measure the maturity of a technology: TRL 1-3 covers basic research and proof of concept; TRL 4-6 covers laboratory and pilot validation; TRL 7-9 covers operational demonstration and full deployment. Almost none of the EU-developed C-UAS systems have reached sustained operational deployment at scale. The barriers are structural.
The report closes with five groups of recommendations for EU policymakers, standardisation bodies, public procurement bodies, and the defence innovation ecosystem. Closing the C-UAS TRL-to-deployment gap requires more R&I funding, but also a different process for converting that innovation into operational capability.
Key Findings
The European counter-drone market is growing at a CAGR of 19-22% through 2034, yet most EU-developed C-UAS systems remain below TRL 7 and have not reached public procurement.
RF-based directed energy neutralisation (RF-DEN) — a technology that uses focused radio frequency energy to disable drone electronics without physical contact or explosive effect, making it deployable in civilian environments — has no harmonised legal framework in the EU for non-military actors. The EU Council documented in 2025 that an evaluation of the harmonisation of Member State laws and procedures is underway [1], implicitly acknowledging that harmonisation does not exist. The European Commission’s 2026 Action Plan on Drone Security acknowledges that the military should not be the sole protector of critical infrastructure against low-cost UAVs, and calls for civil-military coordination (COM(2026)81) [2]. In practice, RF-DEN for private critical infrastructure operators is inaccessible in most Member States. This directly contradicts the resilience obligations of the CER Directive and NIS2, which fall precisely on those operators.
No EU-wide C-UAS certification standard exists. Its absence is the main reason infrastructure operators defer procurement.
EU SMEs face a funding gap between TRL 6 demonstrator and market-ready product that EDF, Horizon Europe, and national defence programmes do not adequately address.
Evidence from the Iberian ecosystem shows the path from validated proof-of-concept to first public procurement contract currently takes 4 to 7 years, with regulatory uncertainty as the dominant delay factor. For any SME developing C-UAS systems without institutional support, this period is a funding dead zone in the TRL 6-to-market transition.
Recommendations
Establish a harmonised EU legal framework for civilian C-UAS deployment, with clear spectrum rights, liability rules, and proportionality criteria.
Create a European C-UAS Certification Pathway modelled on EASA aviation safety standards.
Mandate innovation procurement mechanisms (PCP, PPI) for C-UAS in CER-regulated sectors.
Establish a dedicated C-UAS Scale-Up Instrument within EDF/EDIDP.
Create an EU C-UAS Interoperability Standard as a condition of public procurement eligibility.