EXCELLENCE NETWORK IN DUAL TECHNOLOGIES FOR RESILIENCE AND INTEGRATION OF AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS IN MULTIDOMAIN ENVIRONMENTS
OBJECTIVES
The strategic program COMANDO aims to consolidate national technological sovereignty in multimodal autonomous systems for defense and security, advancing capabilities of centralized, distributed, and onboard autonomy.
It also seeks to ensure the effective transfer of results to the industry, guaranteeing their dual applicability in critical military and civilian environments. COMANDO also aims to strengthen a national innovation ecosystem that integrates technological centers, companies, administrations, and end-users, and to position Spain as an international benchmark through active participation in European programs and NATO/EU standardization forums.
MISSION, VISION, AND APPROACH OF THE STRATEGIC PROGRAM COMANDO
MISSION
The mission of COMANDO is to drive the development and integration of advanced command and control collaborative architectures (C2/C4ISR), secure and interoperable communications, and onboard artificial intelligence capabilities, enabling the coordinated operation of autonomous air, land, and maritime fleets in adverse and GNSS-denied environments. Through applied research, experimental validation, and collaboration with key sector actors, COMANDO aims to transform these advances into real operational capabilities for defense, civil security, and critical infrastructure protection.
VISION
The vision of COMANDO is to position Spain at the forefront of European and international autonomous mobility technologies, contributing to strategic leadership in interoperable, resilient, and certified unmanned systems under NATO/EU standards. The program aspires to consolidate a Cervera network of excellence capable of influencing the definition of future operational concepts, technological standards, and European cooperative programs, while simultaneously reinforcing industrial competitiveness and national strategic autonomy.
APPROACH OF THE STRATEGIC PROGRAM
The strategic approach of COMANDO is based on a comprehensive and progressive development of key technologies for multimodal autonomous systems, combining centralized autonomy, swarm collaboration, and embedded perception and explainable AI capabilities. The program adopts a human-centered methodology, with adaptive human-machine interfaces, cyber resilience against electronic warfare, and interoperability in accordance with STANAGs. Its practical orientation is supported by test beds and dual validations in representative scenarios, ensuring technological maturation up to TRL6 and effective transfer to critical applications in both defense and civil emergencies.