EU explores new military intelligence satellites to cut reliance on US

Unlock the editor’s digest in free

FT editor Raula Khalaf selected his favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Brussels is exploring to create a new satellite network to provide military intelligence as a reason for the US commitment to European defense.

This system has highlighted Europe’s dependence on the United States after President Donald Trump breaks the detective sharing with Ukraine this month.

“In view of the change in the geopolitical situation, the European Commission is considering increasing its satellite capacity for the development of geopatial Intelligence support for security,” Defense Commissioner Andreas Kubilius told the Financial Times.

The new satellite network will be used to identify threats like forces movement and adjust military action. The discussion has just begun, but Lithuanian says a network of block is needed to supplement other programs used for navigation and earth observation.

It should produce updated data often than the lower-cucumber Copernicus, which monitors climate change and natural disasters, but simply produces images per 24 hours.

Acknowledging that the project would be expensive and it would take time to build it, Kubilius said he would ask the member states if they would like “temporary commercial approach”.

“We want to create a specific system as a government service to the Earth. It will have high technology and high data availability, “he said the system would work in the lower world orbit. These national networks require a few dozen satellites.

He said that the best commercial systems could track targets and military deployments with updates every 30 minutes.

The Commission is also collecting its own multi-business broadband network iris in the Low Earth orbit. This year it will complete the Govsatcom Program, which will connect the member state systems.

Kubilius was talking before launching a defense plan next week. The Commission has provided $ 150 billion as LOANS as Loans and will allow them to exclude some defense expenses from their financial rules, which will allow them to commit up to $ 650 billion more.

This plan seen by FT will allow member states to ask COMMISSION COMMISSIONS, Pooling demand to secure better prices.

The Commission has not yet determined how the cost should be restricted, but President Ursula von der Lean has said that funds should be spent on European products.

Kubilius said that the Norway and the United Kingdom “I Hope” will be included in the countries included in these remitts.

Türkiye was still in the “discussion”, he said. However, he mentioned that the Prime Minister of Poland, Donald Task, which turned the European Union Chairman, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdo ।an, was a “visible symbol”.

He said that funds could also be used to buy weapons from Ukraine for his armed forces. They were half prices of Western people and “and of course it supports the Ukrainian economy”, he said.

Kubilius said the plan would highlight the strategic fields where the European Union countries are very dependent in the United States. These include airlift power, air-to-air refueling and air alerts and control.

He will also give priority to a missile defense system, which may cost € 500bn.

“We’re naked,” he said. “Are we going to develop every country alone or collectively? I think it is best to have a joint arrangement to adjust the whole area to Cover. But this is not in favor of our decision. “