European Drone Clubs Stall Strategic Autonomy

Author(s): Dominika Kunertova
Series Editor(s): Brian Carlson
Series: CSS Policy Perspectives
Volume: 9
Issue: 5
Publisher(s): Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zürich
Publication Year: 2021

European armed forces continue to depend on the imports of advanced drones from the United States and Israel. To contribute to their strategic autonomy, Europeans need to first align their strategic requirements to deliver a joint European drone solution, argues Dominika Kunertova in this CSS Policy Perspective. As of 2021, only five European countries operate advanced drones, all of which are either American or Israeli unmanned systems. Europeans lack their own operational advanced drone capability due to divergent requirements and industrial rivalries. The author argues that the long-term solution would be to break the competing “drone clubs” that have turned efficient multinational cooperation into an oxymoron.

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