Nine Ukrainian and nine European defense companies gathered in Brussels for the first time on September 11 for the inaugural meeting of the EU-Ukraine Drone Alliance.
This was announced at a briefing in Brussels by European Commissioner for Defense and Space Andrius Kubilius, a Babel correspondent reports.
The alliance should help Ukraine and the EU develop and produce drones faster, as well as scale up production. Among the main tasks are the creation of joint ventures, joint production, and the development of new technologies.
“We need design cycles that are measured in weeks, not months, and countermeasures that develop at the same speed,” Kubilius said, adding that Europe should learn from Ukraine’s experience in drone warfare.
Separately, the Alliance will work to ensure that Europe can quickly ramp up production in the event of war. This, according to Kubilius, requires production lines that can be scaled up to much higher volumes within a few weeks.
Currently, European industry produces approximately 1.5 million drones per year. Kubilius said the EU should take into account the scale of Russian production — up to 10 million FPV drones and 130 000 “Shahed” jets per year.
Among other tasks of the Alliance is joint work on drone management and intelligence infrastructure. European companies want to use Ukrainian experience and technologies, in particular the Delta system.
Another focus is supply chains. Participants must find solutions to problems with access to components, electronics, materials, chips, and explosives.
The next board meeting of the EU-Ukraine Drone Alliance is planned to be held by the end of the year.
- The alliance was launched in July 2026 during the third EU-Ukraine Defense Industry Forum in Kyiv.
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