On Wednesday 24 September, Lieutenant General Stefano Cont, Director of Capabilities, Armaments and Planning (CAP) and Acting Deputy Director General of the European Defence Agency (EDA), explained that several projects developed within the framework of Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) could help combat drone or missile attacks on European territory.
With increasing numbers of Russian drone incursions into European territory, the European Commission is working on a ‘drone wall’ system which, according to Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius, could be operational within a year.
“We must have an appropriate system with a European architecture. Within PESCO, there are several projects aimed at preparing a European defence through the use of missiles”, explained Mr Cont at a hearing of the European Parliament’s Committee on Security and Defence. He explained that these projects were at different stages of development. Mr Cont specifically made reference to European medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aircraft systems (Eurodrone) and the European global architecture system for the insertion of unmanned aircraft systems (Gloria).
When asked about a missile defence architecture, Mr Cont explained that while complex to achieve, it was possible. In his view, this requires a command and control architecture, with a rapid exchange of information and political involvement since intercepting a missile over a country entails a number of risks. In addition, the right sensors for missile defence are required in order to set up an early warning system with a tracking system, then a system to guide the missile, and finally someone to launch the missile.
“There are several layers and this cannot be achieved by a single Member State. The issue of missile defence therefore requires a discussion and an evaluation of the elements that must form part of the architecture”, he said, adding that strategic enablers were needed to enable the system to function.
Mr Cont warned that it would take time to develop a reliable system, but said that many anti-drone systems would come onto the market over the next few years out of necessity. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)