EU-Ukraine Drone Alliance to Hold Inaugural Meeting in Brussels

1:03 AM ETDeveloping

World Desk

In Short: The EU-Ukraine Drone Alliance is set to convene its first meeting in Brussels, aiming to enhance European drone capabilities and coordinate responses to drone incursions from Russia.

The EU-Ukraine Drone Alliance, established to bolster European drone and counter-drone capacities, will hold its inaugural meeting on September 1. This alliance, comprising 19 companies from both sides, seeks to create a unified framework to facilitate and support the implementation of drone deals signed by Ukraine with several EU/EFTA capitals.

The meeting comes at a critical time, as Eastern European countries, including Ukraine, have faced repeated drone incursions from Russia. Estonia and Romania reported such incidents this week, underscoring the need for enhanced cooperation and coordination among member states. The alliance aims to study Ukraine’s public-private drone ecosystem and offer a multi-layered framework to link sensors and effectors across Europe.

The grouping includes major European companies such as ORQA, Indra Group, and Fincantieri, alongside Ukrainian firms like Skyfall Industries and Tencore. Simonas Šatūnas, head of Kubilius’s cabinet, emphasized the importance of learning from Ukraine’s experience in managing drone operations. The alliance’s chief aims are to contribute to European efforts towards comprehensive drone and counter-drone capacity and support decision-making processes.

The meeting is part of a broader effort by the EU to study Ukraine’s public-private drone ecosystem and offer a multi-layered framework to link sensors and effectors across Europe. This initiative is particularly timely given the ongoing Russian aggression and the need for enhanced coordination among member states.

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“We’re trying to learn from them a lot, how the ecosystem functions, how the government and drone industries function together,” Simonas Šatūnas, head of Kubilius’s cabinet, said of the alliance at an event on Wednesday.
Since then, the Commission has inked a new “defence industrial partnership” with Ukraine, centred on an EU–Ukraine “drone deal”, which aims to “provide a single, coherent EU-Ukraine framework to facilitate, coordinate and support” the full implementation of the drone deals Kyiv has signed with several EU/EFTA capitals.
The grouping comprises 19 companies including ORQA, Indra Group, Fincantieri, WB Electronics/WB Group, Destinus, Delair, RSI Europe, TERMA A/S, Quantum Systems on the EU side and Skyfall Industries, Greentech Harvest, Tencore, Deviro, Vyriy Industry, Scientific Production Company ‘ATHLON AVIA’, TAF Industries, UFORCE and F-Drones on the Ukrainian side.
It was their first meeting since the war broke out six months ago.
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Sources

Kyiv Postlink