EU plans to boost air and missile defence with 18 member states

Brussels: Nearly 20 EU member states have signed a letter of intent to step up cooperation and share the costs of developing common defence systems.

Strengthening European air and missile defence capabilities is now one of the priorities for military cooperation within the EU.

A total of 18 EU member states have signed a letter of intent to pool their efforts in this strategic sector.

“We’re talking about all capabilities, including anti-missile systems and anti-drone systems. So this is a crucial point because having an advantage in the air defines the war,” explained Paweł Ksawery Zalewski, Polish Secretary of State for National Defence.

Air and missile defence systems are what attracted the most interest from European capitals, but the European Defence Agency (EDA) also proposed three other areas: electronic warfare (involving 14 member states), floating munitions (17) and European warships (seven).

The bloc lacks air and missile defence capabilities; however, this weakness is explained by the fact that these are new technologies that have only recently been used in the field.

“In fact, what we lack are ready-to-use air defence systems. We have the technology,” said Zalewski.

The EDA stressed the strategic interest of the project, but also its industrial advantages, could benefit all member states.

“Integrated missile defence is a very broad set of activities. The capabilities can support many different forces and industrial projects and are therefore highly relevant to the European defence and technology base,” explained Stefano Cont, Director of Capability, Armaments and Planning at the EDA.

“These capabilities involve a lot of innovation and new technologies. So it’s a big boost for our economy, not just for big industries, but also for small and medium-sized enterprises and research,” Cont said.

The EDA pointed out that the effort is not just about military engagement. It stresses that it also involves risk monitoring and analysis using satellites, communication technologies and artificial intelligence. It also involves space-based sensors and radar to identify threats as early as possible.

“We absolutely must increase the quantity of our systems. We must increase our capacity to understand where threats are coming from as early as possible,” said Cont.

“Secondly, we must maintain a technological lead that enables us to defeat these systems,” he continued, adding that “we have done a lot”.

These projects aim to avoid duplication between member states in the research and development of these resources as well as share the financial effort.

In its 2024 report, the EDA points out that member states’ military expenditure has risen by 30% this year compared with 2021, before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The 27 countries are expected to spend €326bn this year, representing 1.9% of the EU’s GDP.

However, despite this increase in spending, the document states that national efforts alone are insufficient to adequately prepare the armed forces of member states for a high-intensity war.