EU-Ukraine Drone Alliance formed to boost defense production

A new EU-Ukraine Drone Alliance has been established to accelerate the development and production of next-generation drones and anti-drone systems. The alliance brings together nine European industrial champions and several Ukrainian companies to combine European funding and production capacity with Ukrainian operational experience.

French company Delair is the sole French member of the founding group, which also includes Italy’s Fincantieri, Germany’s Destinus and Quantum Systems, and Poland’s WB Group. On the Ukrainian side, the alliance includes companies such as Deviro, Tencore, and Skyfall.

The initiative follows President Volodymyr Zelensky’s assertion that drone technology has caused revolutionary changes in warfare, comparable to the introduction of the machine gun or the tank. Ukraine has seen its domestic drone manufacturing sector grow from seven manufacturers prior to 2022 to over 500 today, positioning the nation as a significant high-tech defense industrial power.