Dual-use: when civilian innovation becomes a sovereignty asset

A growing share of recent military innovation no longer comes exclusively from the traditional BITD (the French defence industrial and technological base), but from technologies developed for strictly civilian uses and then adapted.

What the law calls a dual-use item

Dual-use is not just an industrial policy notion, it is a precise legal category. Regulation (EU) 2021/821 of 20 May 2021 defines dual-use items as items, including software and technology, which can be used for both civil and military purposes. Exporting them outside the Union requires authorisation as soon as they appear on the list in its Annex I.

This annex is organised into ten categories, from 0 (nuclear materials, facilities and equipment) to 9 (aerospace and propulsion), by way of electronics (3), computers (4), telecommunications and information security (5), sensors and lasers (6) and navigation and avionics (7). Each category is broken down into five groups: systems and components, test and production equipment, materials, software, technology. A sensor, a thermal camera or a navigation algorithm can therefore fall under control without its manufacturer ever having imagined a military customer.

The regulation also provides for a so-called "catch-all" clause (article 4). An unlisted item becomes subject to authorisation when the competent authority informs the exporter that it is or may be intended, for example, for a weapons of mass destruction programme or for military end use in a country under an arms embargo. An exporter who is aware of such a destination must report it themselves.

Examples that go beyond traditional doctrine

Consumer sensors, components from hobby drones, commercial AI models: these technological building blocks, never designed for military use, end up being reused in operational contexts, often faster than through traditional procurement channels.

What it changes for industrial policy

• The boundary between civilian and strategic players is becoming blurrier
• Civilian innovation cycles, faster than traditional military procurement cycles, are becoming a competitive advantage in their own right
• Export controls and the protection of intellectual property are becoming sovereignty issues, even for companies that do not consider themselves strategic

A point of vigilance for civilian companies

An SME developing a civilian technology with strong dual-use potential has every interest in anticipating this permeability, if only to understand the real value, and the risks, of what it has built.

What an SME must check before exporting

Classifying the product

The first question is whether the product appears in Annex I, and under which entry. Every entry follows the same logic: a digit for the category, a letter for the group, then a number (an entry starting with 5A thus covers systems and components in the telecommunications and information security category). The DGE (Direction générale des entreprises, the French directorate general for enterprise) offers a step-by-step check to find out whether an authorisation is required, as well as a correlation table with the customs nomenclature. In case of doubt, the SBDU (Service des biens à double usage, the French dual-use goods office) is the authority on classification; an official written answer can be requested through the Egide portal.

Applying for a licence

If the product is listed, exporting it outside the Union requires an authorisation from the SBDU, a national service attached to the DGE. It can be individual, global or general depending on the number of operations and recipients. For the admissibility stage alone, the administration displays average lead times of 2 to 5 days for an individual licence and one to two weeks for a global licence, before the actual review, which takes longer for sensitive files. Some items, those in Annex IV, even require authorisation for transfers within the Union.

My advice to an SME discovering the subject: deal with classification at the design stage, not at the first export order. An unexpected authorisation delay on a first contract costs far more than an analysis carried out upfront.

The most visible case: the hobby drone turned weapon

The DJI civilian drone is the best documented illustration: designed for leisure video and precision agriculture, it was massively diverted in Ukraine, on both sides of the front line, for reconnaissance and then to guide improvised strikes. The manufacturer announced in April 2022 that it was temporarily suspending its business in Russia and Ukraine while it reassessed its compliance obligations. In the end, it was the Chinese state that settled the matter: on 31 July 2024, the Ministry of Commerce announced, with effect from 1 September 2024, a ban on exporting any civilian drone intended for military use, even if not on the control list, as well as the addition to controlled items of components such as thermal cameras, designation lasers and high-precision inertial measurement equipment. Proof that the consumer product had changed status without its manufacturer having decided it.

I cover this subject in more detail in my series on the drone war, starting with the 2022 to 2026 overview.

This case illustrates the real dual-use risk for a civilian company: it does not always choose the moment when its technology switches use, and sometimes finds itself having to choose between continuing to sell normally and managing a reputational or regulatory exposure it had never anticipated at the design stage.

Technological sovereignty is no longer played out only in military laboratories. It is also played out, more and more, in startups that do not know they are strategic. Starting with those that write code: software at the heart of defence sovereignty is the demonstration.

Software, the new dual-use asset

The European regulation says it in so many words: software and technology are dual-use items just like hardware, with their own group in each category of Annex I. A navigation algorithm, an encryption component or image processing software can fall under an entry. And exporting does not only mean a box crossing a border: the European definition of export also covers the transmission of software or technology by electronic means to a destination outside the Union.

For a young company sharing its source code with a team or a partner abroad, the classification question therefore arises well before the first export invoice.

Further reading: my Defence Tech and industrial sovereignty dossier

Frequently asked questions

What is a dual-use item?

An item, software or technology that can be used for both civilian and military purposes. In the Union, the reference list is Annex I of Regulation (EU) 2021/821; a product that appears on it cannot be exported outside the Union without authorisation.

Who issues export licences in France?

The SBDU (Service des biens à double usage, the dual-use goods office), attached to the Direction générale des entreprises. Applications go through the Egide online service.

Can an unlisted product still be controlled?

Yes. The catch-all clause in article 4 makes it possible to require authorisation for an unlisted item when it is or may be intended for a weapons of mass destruction programme, or for military end use in a country under an arms embargo.