Europe to reduce dependence on Israeli drones
Italy, France and Germany announce plan for homemade UAVs, replacing models currently purchased from Israel and the US

Italy, France and Germany announced Monday a plan to create a European-based drone development program for reconnaissance that would reduce their countries’ reliance on Israeli and American technology.
Spain and Poland have also expressed interest in joining the program.
The project is slated to start with two-year-long technical assessment to get the Germans, French and Italians on the same page regarding operational needs and cost. The hope is to get a drone into the air by 2025.
“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.
The project, called MALE 2020, will focus on the development of a medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) drone. Israel currently operates two such drones, the Aeronautical Defense Dominator and the IAI Heron. Drones of this caliber are defined as being able to achieve an altitude of at least 9,000 meters and stay airborne for 24 hours. The Israeli drones outpace that minimum standard.
“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,” German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said. “This makes us, the Europeans, independent.”
At the moment, European countries rely heavily on American and Israeli models. The UK, Italy and France currently use US-made Reaper drones while Germany and France also use Israeli-built machines.
There was no immediate reaction from Washington or Jerusalem.
Airbus, France’s Dassault Aviation and Italy’s Alenia Aermacchi are three companies backing the plan.
“European countries must develop a sovereign, Next Generation MALE UAS solution, for both military and security missions, which is required by our Armed Forces,” said Eric Trappier, CEO Dassault Aviation.