Europe and Ukraine are moving closer to joint military manufacturing after officials convened in Brussels to accelerate next-generation drone development.
On Tuesday, the EU Commission hosted the second Board Meeting of the EU-Ukraine Drone Alliance, ieu-monitoring.com reported.
The Brussels meeting brought together 18 founding members to coordinate industrial collaboration, regulatory aspects, and new battlefield doctrines. These members include manufacturers, innovators, start-ups, and scale-ups from EU Member States, EEA-EFTA countries, and Ukraine, working alongside armed forces, ieu-monitoring.com reported. The initiative serves as a first step in implementing the EU-Ukraine Drone Deal announced in July, contributing directly to the broader EU-Ukraine Defence Industrial Pact.
While industrial boards meet in Brussels, diplomatic talks regarding a formal pact continue. Ukraine and the European Commission are currently conducting negotiations to conclude a Drone Deal, according to Oksana Osadcha, an advisor to the apparatus of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine, speaking at the EU Accession Exchange Forum as reported by European Pravda via Yahoo.
Osadcha noted that an earlier defence partnership signed during a visit by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to Kyiv covered drones to a certain extent but did not constitute a true drone deal.
The joint declaration on the EU-Ukraine Defence Pact was already signed when chief of Commission Ursula von der Leyen visited Kyiv,
Osadcha said, according to Yahoo. That was largely announced in the media as an EU-Ukraine Drone Deal – so far, not yet.
The newly adopted Terms of Reference will allow the Alliance’s working groups to kick off activities and deliver targeted results in the coming months, ieu-monitoring.com reported. The Board previously held its inaugural meeting in September, with a third meeting scheduled for early 2027. General members and public partners can join the Alliance following the publication of application details on the Commission’s website.
The Alliance includes 18 founding members consisting of manufacturers, innovators, start-ups, and scale-ups from EU Member States, EEA-EFTA countries, and Ukraine, operating in coordination with armed forces.
The Board held its first meeting in September, followed by the second meeting in Brussels on Tuesday, with the third meeting scheduled for early 2027.
The Drone Alliance is a unique industry-led cooperation between 🇪🇺&🇺🇦 companies, supported by @EU_Commission, looking for industrial solutions in drone production & creating an integrated ecosystem for pan-European drone defence capabilities. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/RWXTKj4mjc
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