5 European nations to make drones by tapping Ukraine’s war experience

Five European nations have announced a new programme to produce low-cost air defence systems and autonomous drones using Ukrainian expertise hard-won over the past four years of war against Russia.Friday’s initiative of the E5 nations – France, Poland, Germany, the United Kingdom and Italy – comes as one of many European efforts to bolster defence along their borders, like a “drone wall” with Russia and Ukraine to better detect, track and intercept drones violating Europe’s airspace.Both Moscow and Kyiv have cutting-edge drone warfare capabilities forged in the grim laboratory of war where battlefield innovations have rewritten modern battle tactics. Poland is already working with Ukraine on drone technology in joint military training programmes and manufacturing projects.Those efforts were sparked by a spate of incidents in which Europe’s borders and airports have been tested by rogue drones. Russia has been blamed for some of them but denies that anything was done on purpose or that it played a role.“The UK and our E5 partners are stepping up – investing together in the next generation of air defence and autonomous systems to strengthen NATO’s shield,” said Luke Pollard, Britain’s minister for defence readiness and industry.“We have some of the best kit on the entire planet for shooting down air threats. The problem is to be effective at shooting down relatively low-cost missiles, drones and other threats facing us,” he said. “We need to make sure that we’re matching the cost of the threats with the cost of defence.”A Ukrainian drone pilot operates a Vampire drone during an attack mission in the Donetsk region, near Russian lines, on Thursday. Photo: EPA