Tired of Buying US Drones, European Leaders Agree to Build Their Own

Europe is working to close its drone gap.

This week, Italy, France, and Germany announced they would conduct a two-year assessment to develop the foundation for a European drone program, with the goal of getting a European drone in the skies by 2025. The three previously proposed an agreement in 2013 to build unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in hopes of scaling back dependence on technology from Israel and the US, which lead the world in military drone manufacturing.

"It's a very important step for European cooperation, a critical cooperation which we must have at our disposal in many theaters of operation," French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said of the project, according to Reuters.

The countries will decide to start manufacturing the drone at the end of the two-year period based on what needs are addressed during the assessment. The new venture will be worth a billion euros if it succeeds, according to Red Herring, and is reportedly being carried out in collaboration between European aerospace companies Airbus, Alenia Aermacchi and Dassault Aviation.

Along with the companies tapped for the project, the three countries are planning to create a medium altitude, long endurance (MALE) drone, which they hope to have in operation by 2025. Such a drone, which will be used for reconnaissance and surveillance, will need to fly at an altitude of 9,000 meters (nearly 30,000 feet) for as long as 24 hours.

In the past, European aerospace companies have expressed concern about the use of American-made drones and are working to catch up. The chairman of Dassault Aviation recently said the French acquisition of Reaper drones built by American contractor General Atomics had "slightly traumatized" Dassault, which had developing its own UAVs for some time.

Germany previously attempted to develop a UAV called Euro Hawk, but the project was shut down in 2013 amid regulation issues and a scandal over excessive costs. The two-year plan passed Monday is one of the most concrete steps yet for European countries in drone development.

A source close to the project told the Financial Times they are also working to develop UAVs that would share airspace with manned aircraft, as opposed to the current environment in the US, where the FAA has yet to fully integrate drones into US airspace. This development would allow the drones to be used for domestic purposes like monitoring natural disasters and border control in addition to military use.

German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said the project will make Europeans more independent, according to RT.

"The goal of the Euro-drone is that we can decide by ourselves in Europe on where we deploy the Euro-drone and how we use it," she said.

In addition to Italy, France, and Germany, several other European countries may join the pact later on in the program, including Poland and Spain.