On November 20th, the European Union has a first general and official description of the European defense panorama. In the so-called CARD (Coordinated Annual Defense Assessment), Member States are recommended to focus on six main developments, while identifying a total of 55 opportunities for joint defense development, in addition to an additional 56 related to them. collaboration in research and technology.
The report, presented to the defense ministers of member countries by the European Defense Agency (EDA), recommends mainly six next-generation “high-impact” capabilities as areas on which European military capacity development efforts should focus. joint The report argues that these are developments “that have great potential to boost the operational performance of the EU and its Member States in the short and medium term, while ensuring the [maintenance of] knowledge [‘know how’] industrial”. These are capabilities specified in a future battle tank, a European patrol surface ship, modernization of soldier systems, anti-drone systems (C-UAS), defense of space and improvement of military mobility.
Tanks
CARD recommends the joint development and acquisition by the 26 member countries of the EDA of an MBT (main battle tank). This is a long-term goal, as the new tank should start operating in the 2030s, so it also recommends joint modernization and upgrades of existing capabilities in the short term. The authors of the study calculate that these joint works may represent a reduction, by the mid-2030s, of 30% of the types and operational variants. At the moment, 11 countries have already expressed their interest in this cooperation.
Surface vessels
The so-called European Patrol-Class Surface Vessel is a CARD recommendation to replace offshore and coastal patrol vessels in the next decade, while also seeking to develop an approach on modular naval platforms across the EU. . The report has found “out-of-the-box joint procurement cooperation opportunities, common logistics for similar vessels and common future functional requirements.” Seven countries have shown interest in this cooperation. Soldier sets
The document presented by the EDA proposes to modernize the soldier’s systems through the joint acquisition, and in the short term, of existing equipment. For this purpose, it includes the harmonization of requirements, through the development of a group of users for training and conducting joint virtual exercises using common information technology tools. In the longer term, the creation of a common shared architecture is recommended for all subsystems using state-of-the-art technology. This part may be implemented in the mid-2020s, according to calculations collected by CARD. At the moment there are ten countries that have expressed interest in this cooperation.
C-UAS
The fourth suggested approach focuses on the so-called anti-drone systems (C-UAS) and the concepts of anti access and area denial (Counter UAS / Anti Access / Area Denial). The recommendation focuses on developing a European capability to counter Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) to enhance force protection and help establish a European standard for Anti Access / Area Denial (A2 / AD). The report concludes “that European capability approaches towards A2 / AD are clearly at a crossroads, thus either this capability is developed collaboratively or the capability will not be developed for European forces.”
Space
A European approach to defense in space is required, according to CARD. It seeks to improve access to space services and the protection of assets in this new military domain. “As an emerging operational area, greater collaboration would contribute to greater involvement of defense ministries and recognition of military requirements in broader space programs carried out at the EU level,” the document notes.
Military mobility
The sixth capabilities approach proposed in the EDA report focuses on so-called enhanced military mobility. It aims at a more active participation of all Member States in the military mobility program. It is a plan presented in 2018 by the European Commission (EC) and the then High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security, Federica Mogherini, to improve this concept inside and outside the EU. This initiative is part of the commitment announced in 2017 by the then president of the EC, Jean-Claude Juncker, to achieve a true Defense Union no later than 2025, and it establishes a series of measures to deal with the Physical, procedural or regulatory obstacles that hinder military mobility.
CARD believes that these six areas “have good potential to be addressed through cooperation, based on the Member States’ own considerations, and would allow for broad participation by nations at the system and subsystem level.”