Plan for C-UAS engagement

This deliverable defines the strategic plan for stakeholder engagement within the COURAGEOUS² project, which supports the implementation of the European Commission’s 2023 Communication on countering threats posed by non-cooperative drones. It outlines the mechanisms through which the project will build, structure, and activate a European C-UAS (Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems) community to improve regulatory alignment, operational relevance, and cross-border convergence.
The plan targets a diverse set of actors—including Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs), technology providers, regulatory authorities, standardisation bodies, and international institutions—and describes how COURAGEOUS² will engage each group through a combination of structured consultation, coordinated events, digital platforms, and collaborative scenario development. Special emphasis is placed on ensuring the operational needs and constraints of end-users are systematically captured and translated into test design, methodological refinement, and actionable policy input.
Stakeholder mapping has been conducted across all EU Member States, resulting in a dynamic directory of relevant LEAs, infrastructure operators, and protection units involved in national drone threat response. Parallel efforts map the industry landscape and identify key technology providers for potential inclusion in trials and methodology development.
The plan also outlines how COURAGEOUS² will coordinate with European and international institutions, including DG-HOME, FRONTEX and JRC. These partnerships reinforce the project’s aim to serve both policy-level and operational stakeholders and ensure that testing activities, standardisation contributions, and policy support tools are both actionable and scalable.
While COURAGEOUS² contributes actively to relevant standardisation initiatives—such as those led by EUROCAE, CEN/CENELEC, and ISO—these represent just one strand of a broader engagement approach. The project’s interaction with regulatory stakeholders, such as EASA, complements its bottom-up efforts to gather field-level requirements, validate performance in operational scenarios, and structure two-way exchanges with Member States.
A set of practical tools—ranging from secure communication channels to technical briefings and interactive workshops—supports ongoing stakeholder dialogue. The plan concludes with a performance monitoring framework and engagement KPIs to ensure responsiveness, transparency, and long-term sustainability.
In essence, this deliverable formalises stakeholder engagement as an operational backbone of COURAGEOUS², ensuring that project outputs reflect real-world needs, support policy evolution, and contribute meaningfully to a coherent, European-wide C-UAS capability landscape.