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Europe's Main Military Powers to Develop Low-Cost Air-Defence Systems
The LEAP initiative aims to produce affordable air defence systems rapidly, with the first lightweight surface-to-air weapon planned for delivery by 2027, addressing drone and missile threats.
- Five European countries aim to cooperate in developing low-cost autonomous drones and air-defence systems, known as the Low-Cost Effectors and Autonomous Platforms initiative.
- The LEAP initiative seeks to increase cooperation on the development and procurement of affordable unmanned systems to counter threats like drones and missiles, drawing lessons from Ukraine's battlefield innovations.
- The UK is expanding cooperation with European allies on long-range precision and hypersonic weapons, with over £400 million spent on such projects this financial year.
14 Articles
14 Articles
UK joins European push for low-cost air defence weapons
The UK has joined France, Germany, Italy and Poland in launching a new multinational initiative to develop low-cost air defence weapons aimed at countering drone and missile threats across Europe, the Ministry of Defence has announced. Unveiled at the European Group of Five (E5) meeting in Krakow on 20 February 2026, the ‘Low-Cost Effectors & Autonomous Platforms’ initiative, known as LEAP, will focus on developing advanced but affordable surfac…
Europe's five biggest defence powers are teaming up on a multi-million euro project to bring low-cost air-defence systems like autonomous drones or missiles into production within 12 months, ministers meeting in the Polish city of Krakow said on Friday.
In Krakow this Friday, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Poland presented a joint programme to develop "low-cost" air defence capabilities to deal with the growing threat of missiles and drones.
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