EU approves major defense projects plan, with Ukraine featuring prominently

The Council of the EU on Sept. 28 approved plans for five bloc-wide projects to bolster Europe's defense capabilities, with Ukraine participating in most of them.

The European Commission, the bloc's executive arm, proposed the projects in July to address shortfalls in key defense areas, namely air defense, maritime security, space, drone and counter-drone capabilities, and security along the EU's eastern flank.

EU defense ministers backed the plan on Sept. 28 after it was supported by member states' ambassadors on Sept. 16.

Ukraine is included in four of the five projects, with the space project being the lone exception.

"These projects further demonstrate the practical cooperation between EU member states to provide for our own security," said Irish Foreign and Defense Minister Helen McEntee, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU.

"Working closely with our partners Norway and Ukraine, together we are taking decisive steps to protect space, our skies, our seas, undersea cables, and our citizens who depend on them."

The first of the five proposed projects is dedicated entirely to drone and counter-drone technology, where Ukraine is expected to play an important role, and all EU countries are taking part except for neutral Malta.

DECODER, as it is known, is expected to cost between 3.5 billion euros and 5.5 billion euros ($4 billion to $6 billion), making it by far the cheapest of the five projects. That money will fund a network of drone technology hubs to facilitate testing and innovation, and improve interoperability.

Of likely more immediate interest to Ukraine is the air and missile defense project (EU-FIAMD), expected to cost 55-80 billion euros ($63-92 billion) by 2040.

While Ukraine is a world leader in drone warfare, the country's weakness lies in anti-ballistic missile defenses. Kyiv seeks to rapidly plug this gap as it braces for a new wave of Russian missile strikes this winter.

The scope of the newly proposed projects also ventures out into space, where Ukraine is not participating, and into the sea, where it is.

The "integrated maritime and seabed defense" project envisions bringing together military and civilian personnel, as well as drones, to monitor all types of sea-based infrastructure, such as fuel pipelines, wind turbines, and internet cables.

Western officials have raised alarm over suspected Moscow-backed efforts to sabotage and disrupt European undersea infrastructure, particularly in the Baltic Sea.

Rounding out the list of the five projects is its most expensive, the Eastern Flank Watch, estimated to cost between 60 and 100 billion euros ($69-115 billion) by 2036.

Unlike the other four projects, the Eastern Flank Watch cuts across combat domains and is instead geographically restricted, though the proposal argues that "it benefits all member states against concrete security threats and is open to extend its geographic area of interest."

Brussels announced the Eastern Flank Watch in October 2025, weeks after a Russian drone incursion into Polish airspace.