Europe changed the way it’s thinking about modern military technology after the war in Ukraine and in Iran. Today’s conflicts ask for affordable, AI-driven, mass-produced equipment rather than expensive, sophisticated tools.  The Commission’s 2025 Defence Readiness Roadmap 2030 makes unmanned aircraft systems, also called drones, the flagship of its defence ramp-up.  The Commission’s 2026 Action Plan on Drone and Counter-Drone Security focuses on a new approach to drone production through industrial scaling and the rapid production of counter-drone technology.  The aim is to create a competitive European drone market, strengthen the EU’s preparedness and defence readiness, and boost its threat-detection capacities.  The Commission will also establish a Drone and Counter-Drone Industrial Forum for government-industry dialogue on mass production, and an EU Counter-Drone Centre of Excellence by 2027 to certify systems and speed innovation.  As part of the action plan, the European Drone Defence Initiative (EDDI) prevents airspace violations and counter-drone threats to critical infrastructure.  The EDDI is a multi-layered, interoperable system for detecting, tracking, and defeating malicious drone attacks through AI-powered sensing and counter-drone technologies. The EDDI is expected to become fully operational by the end of 2027. The Commission will soon begin discussions with the Council and the Parliament on the proposed measures.  It has also proposed appointing national drone security coordinators to run the plan’s implementation.  Are you curious about the EU’s plans to strengthen its hybrid-detection skills? Ask the Euronews AI chatbot!