The European Commission has proposed a roadmap towards deepening defence readiness by 2030 with an initial focus on drone defence as well as air, space and maritime defence.
The announcement comes amid deepening concern over Russia's alleged hybrid warfare against the European Union, involving sabotage, drone incursions, the monitoring of undersea cables and airspace violations.
The initiative was presented by EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas following a recommendation by leaders at their June summit.
Under the proposal, which will need to be approved by member states, there would be four flagship projects on drone defence, deepening the EU’s defences along the eastern borders, air-defence and a so-called European Space Shield.
The measures are designed to ensure that member states’ armed forces can "anticipate, prepare for, and respond to any crisis, including high-intensity conflict."
Member states will be encouraged to plug gaps in capabilities across a range of areas in order to achieve a state of military readiness by 2030.
These include air and missile defence, artillery systems, military mobility, cyber, AI and electronic warfare, missile and ammunition, drones and counter-drones as well as ground combat and maritime defence.
The commission suggests that boosting capabilities will be enhanced by joint procurement by member states in order to expand the EU’s defence industrial base.
"A simplified and integrated European defence equipment market is key for scaling up production, achieving economies of scale, and driving innovation," a statement said.
"By 2030, the goal is to establish a genuine EU-wide market with harmonised rules that enable industry to deliver at speed and volume. The commission will track industrial capacity - starting with air and missile defence, drones, and space systems - to ensure Europe can meet its most urgent needs."
The Irish Government announced in June that it supported the EU’s SAFE initiative, part of the EU’s plan to inject €800 billion into the EU’s defence industry in the coming years.
Ireland will use its membership of the plan to buy artillery, cyber and air defence systems, as well as provide for the protection of maritime and critical infrastructure.
Ireland is expected to jointly procure equipment with other member states in key sectors.
Launching the road map, Ms Kallas said: "There must be a major buildup of European defence capabilities. Russia has no capacity to launch an attack on the European Union today, but it could prepare itself in the years to come. Danger will not disappear, even if the war in Ukraine ends."
She said member states will decide what to procure or develop, when and from whom to procure.
This week, the first meeting of the so-called 'Drones Coalition’ took place, led by the Netherlands and Latvia.
"Drones are already redefining warfare," Ms Kallas said.
"Having drone defenses is no longer optional for anyone. Today we propose a new anti-drone system to be fully operational by the end of 2027 and this will be done, of course, in close cooperation with NATO."
The Eastern Flank Watch envisages both a so-called ground wall, involving anti-tank trenches, dragons teeth, potentially recreating swamp land, and a drone wall, which would allow eastern member states defend themselves against drone attacks.
The EU’s defence commissioner Andrius Kubilius told reporters the EU had limited abilities to detect and destroy drones with cost effective measures.
"We need to start to invest in detection capabilities, both in the frontier region, but also in the countries which want to develop such capabilities in order to be ready to defend themselves against any provocations, and then we need to develop capabilities to destroy drones in a cost effective ways, with antidrone interceptors, electronic warfare."
He said Latvia had already begun building a network of acoustic sensors to be able to detect drones.
Ms Kallas said that while the EU was working in close cooperation with NATO, non-NATO countries - such as Ireland - would not be part of the military planning of NATO "but it doesn't mean that they don't need the defence, regarding drones and the antidrone systems."
