EU Commissioner: Europe Must Be Ready to Build Millions of Drones to Counter Russia
Europe must prepare to build “millions of drones” to defend itself from possible Russian attacks, EU Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius has warned, The Gaze reports, citing Sky News.
“Russia can have around five million drones, so we need to have capacities bigger than those in order to prevail,” he said, stressing that European nations should urgently invest in drone capabilities and expertise rather than stockpile outdated models.
According to military intelligence, Russia could be capable of striking a NATO country within the next five years.
Kubilius believes the only way to prepare is to mobilise production capacities and skilled teams now.
“We need to learn a lot from Ukraine… how to organise defences against millions of drones, and also how to make your defence industry innovative,” he said.
He also highlighted the stark lessons from the battlefield: “Nothing can move. Everything is controlled by drones. A traditional tank in that zone survives six minutes.”
Kubilius, who recently visited Ukraine’s front lines, said drone warfare has reshaped the battlefield, with traditional tanks surviving “six minutes” in drone-controlled zones.
“If Ukrainians need four million for 1,200km, we need something like three million drones for one year if the war is starting, if ‘Day X’ is coming,” he explained.
He urged Europe to learn from Ukraine’s experience and warned: “On the European continent, at the moment, there are only two armies battle-tested with the ability to use millions of drones: one is Russian, which is planning new aggressions; another one is Ukrainian.”
Read more on The Gaze: Inside Ukraine’s “Techno-Army”: How Startups Are Rewriting Rules of Warfare