Fattori d’impatto sull’innovazione tecnologica e sviluppo di capacità Dual-use della Difesa

At the time of writing, the role of the Armed Forces is being highly debated, amid the conflict between Russia and Ukraine which reached a phase of great intensity. The conflict’s implications on the operational models of the military instrument, as well as on investments, do not yet appear clear, but will likely turn out to be profound, medium-to-long-term consequences at national, EU, and NATO level. The current analysis aims at describing the factors influencing dual-use innovation processes, both in terms of Research and Development (R&D) and of technology and product transfer for applications in the opposite market. This goal intends to encourage the Ministry of Defence to resort to dual-use solutions, without the need to compromise any specific military capability and whilst being able to count on separate investment lines: military only on the one hand, and dual-use on the other. Chapter 1 describes the framework of the current debate, considering the difficulties in reaching commonly agreed definitions in the field of dual-use solutions, and underlining the positive implications that dual-use technologies and products can have in terms of interoperability, innovation, and funding opportunities. Chapter 2 describes the main factors influencing both the private and the public sectors. Chapter 3 analyses a few factors though which the public sector could facilitate dual-use innovation.