European Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius has outlined five areas of cooperation between Ukraine and the European Union within the framework of the drone alliance: joint projects and production capable of rapidly scaling up output, cooperation on intelligence infrastructure, the establishment of supply chains, and research and development.
“We need design cycles in weeks, not months, and countermeasures that keep pace, and that's why the EU-Ukraine drone alliance is so important because it will address that gap. We will work first of all to accelerate joint ventures and joint production between EU and Ukrainian companies and implementation of very important. EDPCIs on drone defense, so-called decoder, and there's the eastern flank watch,” he stated on Friday in Brussels following a meeting of the EU-Ukraine drone alliance.
The European Commissioner identified "readiness to scale" as the second area of cooperation. “We need production lines that stay warm in quiet periods. What does it means warmth and quiet period? It means not producing such big amounts but can be searched within weeks,” Kubilius explained.
According to him, the EU industry currently produces about 1.5 million drones per year. “We have to Maciej Russian production capabilities of up to 10 million FPV drones and 130,000 jet powered Shaker drones, or 1700 ballistic missiles per year,” the European Commissioner cited the figures.
Furthermore, he expressed conviction that the European Union needs to cooperate with Ukraine in the areas of control systems and intelligence infrastructure for unmanned systems. “Ukraine has a remarkable system in that area, Delta. 3rd to identify and to elaborate the ways to overcome the challenges of supply chains, components for the production of drones, electric vehicles, magnet materials, production of explosives, production of chips, and third. We need to learn how to have an ecosystem for drone warfare similar to Ukraine where designers, production, procurement, operation of drones experienced from the front line is integrated into that ecosystem,” Kubilius outlined the key provisions of the cooperation.
He also cited the need to accelerate research, development, and procurement processes, reducing the time from the emergence of a requirement to the creation of a prototype from years to months. “Brave Tech EU Initiative already helps companies to test defense technologies against operational scenarios and battlefield conditions drawn from the war in Ukraine. So that is what is about this very important drone alliance created both by the companies from Ukraine and from the European Union,” Kubilius summed up.
