Copyright © HT Digital Streams Limited All rights reserved. Cristina Gallardo , The Wall Street Journal 2 min read 16 Oct 2025, 18:31 IST The EU says member states coming together will allow them to afford more advanced weapons faster. The European Union will encourage its member states to jointly acquire drone and air defense equipment as part of a five-year strategy to rearm and deter Russia. The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, proposed a reform of the EU’s military planning and procurement on Thursday, aimed at making the bloc combat-ready by the end of the decade. The Defense Readiness Roadmap 2030 sets out four priority projects for joint defense procurement, and a target to increase the joint procurement of weapons to 40% by the end of 2027, from around 20% currently. The EU says that member states coming together will enable them to afford more advanced weapons more quickly. The plan is the latest effort by the EU to bolster its defense capabilities amid deteriorating relations with Russia. Last month, Russian drones were spotted inside Poland’s airspace, and three Russian fighter jets entered Estonian airspace without permission, among other sightings. “Militarized Russia poses a persistent threat to European security for the foreseeable future,” the document said. Under the strategy, the EU will invite its member states to form voluntary coalitions, which will identify the military equipment they want to buy together. Each coalition will be led by one or two EU countries. To address the most pressing capacity gaps, the EU executive body proposed four projects, but said member states would be able to come up with additional ones. These priority projects include the European Drone Defense Initiative, which aims to enable EU countries to better detect and intercept hostile drones intruding into their airspace by acquiring joint radars, acoustic centers, anti-warfare systems, machine guns and low-cost anti-drone missiles, among other equipment. “While the eastern border member states face the greatest direct threat from Russia and Belarus, such a threat can reach any member state,” the roadmap said. A second program, called the Eastern Flank Watch, will focus on integrating air defense and anti-drone systems with a set of ground defense systems with maritime security in the Baltic and Black Seas. Under the European Air Shield programme, EU countries are set to create a multi-layered air defense system. The fourth programme, called the Defense Space Shield, aims to acquire equipment to better protect the EU’s satellites. The coalitions should be formed by early next year, with projects planned to be launched in the first half of 2026. Contracts with defense companies must be signed by the end of 2028, while the military equipment must be delivered by 2030. The roadmap, which requires the approval of EU leaders, also sets out an ambition to increase the share of arms sourced from EU and Ukrainian defense companies to 55% by 2028 and to 60% by 2030, to support the military loan program proposed in March. promotes joint defense procurement, worth 150 billion euros ($174.73 billion). Write to Cristina Gallardo at cristina.gallardo@wsj.com Get all the Business News, Market News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download the Mint News app to get daily market updates. more topics #European Union #news Read next story
EU proposes overhaul of arms procurement to be combat-ready by 2030
