What this theme covers
Defence & Military is a new dedicated track at Airspace World 2026, reflecting the growing recognition that civil-military airspace coordination is a binding constraint on European ATM efficiency — and that the military dimension of airspace management cannot be addressed by the civil side of the industry in isolation.
The track covers the Flexible Use of Airspace (FUA) concept and its operational effectiveness across European FABs; civil-military coordination at the tactical, pre-tactical, and strategic levels; the integration of military ATM modernisation programmes with the SESAR framework; and the specific airspace management challenges created by increased defence activity in European airspace following the changed security environment since 2022.
Sessions address the European Defence Agency's work programme on military ATM interoperability; the civil-military data-sharing frameworks that would allow real-time exchange of airspace reservations and flight intentions; and the governance of military-controlled airspace volumes that currently limit free route implementation in several FABs.
Why it matters now
The security environment in Europe has changed materially since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Military flight activity in European airspace has increased significantly, and the proportion of airspace subject to temporary reservation for military use has expanded in several Member States. The direct operational consequence is a constraint on free route airspace implementation — the routes that provide the largest fuel savings for commercial aviation pass through or near military-controlled volumes that cannot be released under current coordination arrangements.
At the same time, NATO and European defence initiatives are driving military ATM system modernisation programmes that create both coordination challenges and integration opportunities with the civil side of the SESAR framework. ASW 2026 is the venue where these conversations happen across the civil-military boundary.
Five questions, answered
What is Flexible Use of Airspace and how does it work?
Flexible Use of Airspace (FUA) is the operational concept, established under the EU Single European Sky framework, by which airspace is not permanently designated as either civil or military but is allocated dynamically based on the actual requirements of each user in each time period.
In practice, military authorities declare their airspace reservation requirements to the civil Air Traffic Service authorities, which manage the allocation and inform civil airspace users of the periods and volumes in which civil flight is restricted. Where military activity is lower than the reservation assumed, the airspace is released for civil use, avoiding the waste of permanently reserving large volumes for infrequent activity.
The effectiveness of FUA depends on the speed and reliability of the coordination mechanism between civil and military authorities, and the willingness of military organisations to release reserved airspace earlier than the declared end time. Where these work well — in FABEC's core area — civil capacity benefits measurably. Where they do not, large airspace volumes remain inaccessible to commercial aviation even when no military activity is occurring.
How does civil-military coordination constrain free route airspace?
Free route airspace implementation requires contiguous volumes of airspace in which commercial aircraft can plan direct trajectories. Military-reserved airspace volumes create gaps in the free route network that force commercial traffic onto fixed routes designed around the restrictions — eliminating or reducing the trajectory optimisation that FRA delivers.
In several European airspace volumes, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe, military reservation patterns are the primary barrier to FRA expansion. The coordination challenge is that military reservation requirements are often determined by training programme cycles and defence readiness requirements that the civil ATM system cannot easily predict or negotiate around.
The 2026 agenda addresses what the data shows about how often military-reserved airspace is actually used when reserved, what the commercial aviation cost of the unused reservations is, and whether new data-sharing frameworks between civil and military authorities could enable more dynamic and economically efficient airspace allocation.
What military ATM modernisation programmes are relevant to civil ATM?
Several NATO and national military ATM modernisation programmes are producing systems that will need to interoperate with civil ATM infrastructure — particularly in the domains of surveillance (secondary surveillance radar, ADS-B), datalink (the Link 16 military data network and its interface with civil ACAS/TCAS), and flight data processing.
The European Defence Agency manages programmes aimed at improving military ATM interoperability across EU Member States, and at developing the data exchange standards that would allow civil and military ATM systems to share real-time operational data. The SESAR 3 programme includes military stakeholder participation through the SESAR JU's civil-military coordination, ensuring that SESAR Solutions are designed to accommodate military operational requirements.
What are the airspace management implications of increased European defence activity?
The increased tempo of defence activity in European airspace since 2022 has several direct ATM implications: more frequent and larger temporary reserved areas (TRAs) and temporary segregated areas (TSAs) reducing available airspace for commercial traffic; increased military transit traffic using civil airways and requiring coordination with civil ATC; and in some cases the exercise of sovereign airspace management decisions — such as extended restrictions or route closures — that affect commercial operations with limited notice.
The ATM community's response has been primarily adaptive: developing better tools for managing the dynamic airspace allocation within the existing FUA framework. The structural question — whether the FUA concept as designed is adequate for an environment of sustained elevated military activity — is being addressed at ASW 2026 for the first time with dedicated plenary time.
How is civil-military ATM coordination governed in Europe?
Civil-military ATM coordination in Europe operates at three levels. At the strategic level, the European Commission's Single Sky Committee includes military representatives, and the EUROCONTROL Agency's Military ATM Board coordinates between the Agency and military authorities across its Member States. At the operational level, each Member State maintains a civil-military coordination cell responsible for the day-to-day allocation of airspace under the FUA concept, typically involving the national ANSP and the national military aviation authority. At the network level, the EUROCONTROL Network Manager's Central Route Charges Office and CFMU interfaces with military authorities on the impact of airspace reservations on network traffic flow.
The 2026 debate is whether this governance architecture, which worked adequately in the pre-2022 security environment, is structured correctly for a sustained period of elevated military activity — and whether it can deliver the faster and more transparent civil-military data sharing that commercial aviation requires to optimise routing.
Sessions covering this theme
ASW 2026 sessions under this track cover Flexible Use of Airspace effectiveness, civil-military data sharing frameworks, the impact of defence activity on FRA implementation, and military ATM modernisation interoperability.
What ASW 2025 told us about this theme
ASW 2025 was the first edition to give civil-military coordination a dedicated session in response to the changed European security environment. ASW 2026 gives it a full track. Read the ASW 2025 retrospective
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