Two weeks. That is how long it has taken Europe to confirm that its military reconstruction now has absolute protagonists: the drones. NATO has introduced a new initiative specific to this technology, the United Kingdom has committed billions of pounds to anti-drone systems, Germany has moved to acquire 50,000 units for Ukraineand German startup Helsing just closed a round that values it at 18 billion dollars.
It’s not a coincidence. Lessons from the Ukrainian battlefield, coupled with Iran’s use of low-cost Shahed drones in the Middle East, have made one thing clear: cheap, AI-enabled drones. artificial intelligence (AI), capable of gathering intelligence, extending the range of conventional weapons and operating in an increasingly autonomous manner, have become the centerpiece of the modern battlefield.
This lesson is rewriting the purchasing decisions of governments across Europe, opening a window of opportunity not only for drone manufacturers, but also for software, electronic warfare and secure communications companies.
NATO, the United Kingdom and Germany are pursuing drones at the same time
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte announced last week that the alliance will become an organization drone-readywith an investment of more than $40 billion in anti-drone capabilities over the next five years. Rutte was blunt: Drones have fundamentally altered the character of modern warfare and have become a decisive factor on the battlefield, citing the war between Russia and Ukraine as an example. The United Kingdom, for its part, committed 5 billion pounds (about $6.7 billion) within its Defense Investment Plan for a national “drone transformation” program.
The future of warfare will depend as much on software and autonomy as it does on traditional military hardware
Germany is following the same path, although with a more discreet movement. Last Monday, the defense software company Auterion and the Ukrainian manufacturer Skyfall announced an order of 90 million euros for 50,000 drones equipped with the Auterion operating system, ordered by a NATO member country that, as confirmed by a source to CNBC, It’s Germany. Its CEO, Lorenz Meier, sums it up eloquently: this is the first war being fought at a time when software already defines the battlefield, and its operating system allows drones to continue reaching their objectives despite electronic interference.
In any case, the clearest symbol of this turn is Helsing. This Munich-based company, which manufactures drones and underwater surveillance systems in addition to developing AI software for military applications, has just secured that $18 billion valuation that we talked about in the first paragraph of this article. It is a figure that confirms where the European defense industry is looking: the future of warfare will depend as much on software and autonomy as on traditional military hardware.
Be that as it may, the complete photograph leaves a strong message: in just fifteen days, NATO, the United Kingdom, Germany and the capital market have taken a step forward by the same technology. Europe is no longer late to the drone war, although it still has a lot to prove.
Image | Pok Rie
More information | CNBC
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