A Rampart of Drones to Defend Europe

Drones are currently at the heart of many key challenges to European security. A European Union (EU) drone production and procurement plan launched by the European Commission and High Representative could have several simultaneous objectives:

• strengthening Ukraine’s capabilities in an increasingly crucial category of military equipment,
• stimulating the adaptation of the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB) to a major military revolution, and
• preparing NATO’s European pillar to face up to the challenge of massification and the risk of a US pivot towards Asia.

This threefold reinforcement of Ukraine, the EDTIB and NATO’s European pillar would constitute what might be called Europe’s ‘rampart of drones’.