Reference News Network, October 18 report - According to the website of Germany's Süddeutsche Zeitung on October 16, the so-called "Defense Readiness Roadmap" proposed by the European Commission on October 16 is historic. The roadmap specifically and in detail outlines when and through what means the EU should be prepared for a war. Moreover, it no longer clings to the illusion that Europe can still rely on American protection in the future.

"By 2030," it states, "Europe must have sufficient defense capabilities to effectively deter adversaries and respond to any act of aggression."

To enable the EU to have the ability to resist attacks in an emergency within just five years, the roadmap first defines nine military areas where Europe currently has so-called capability gaps, covering air and missile defense, strategic support forces, military mobility, artillery systems, cyber and artificial intelligence, as well as electronic warfare, missiles and ammunition, drones and counter-drone systems, land combat, and maritime forces.

To bridge these capability gaps, the European Commission recommends that EU countries form different alliances. In addition, the European Commission calls for rapid military expansion in certain areas. For this purpose, it proposes "Lighthouse Projects," including the so-called "Drone Wall." Additionally, Lighthouse Projects also include an European air defense system called "Air Defense Shield" and a "Defense Space Shield."

However, it is questionable whether these military expansion goals can be achieved so quickly in practice. First, the European Commission's roadmap must be approved by the governments of all 27 member states, either at the upcoming summit next week or at the summit in December.

In recent months, concerns, even explicit objections, to the European Commission's plan mainly focused on two aspects. On one hand, some southern countries are dissatisfied with projects such as the "Drone Wall," which they believe mainly benefit the eastern part of the EU. In response, the European Commission made a compromise to these southern critics by emphasizing the "pan-European" nature of drone defense. Officials of the European Commission came up with a beautiful term — "360-degree all-round." This means: even though currently only Eastern Europe is suffering from drone attacks, the funds for the "Drone Wall" will be allocated in all directions.

The second point of criticism is more institutional in nature: major EU powers such as France and Germany see the roadmap as an attempt by the European Commission to interfere in defense policy. To address this, the European Commission stated in the introduction of the roadmap: "In defense matters, member states will remain independent and autonomous now and in the future."

Additionally, the Brussels authorities have clearly stated that military equipment requirements must be set by NATO, an organization that leads European security, not the EU. Brussels should mainly provide funding for the procurement of weapons, in the form of grants or loans.

According to the website of France's Le Monde, drones have become a new focus of attention for European countries. On October 15, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte announced a new initiative against drones at a meeting of defense ministers. On October 16, the European Commission also announced the "European Drone Defense Initiative" in its "Defense Readiness Roadmap 2030." However, military experts remain skeptical about various anti-drone plans.

An arms expert asserted: "Building a barrier against drones is unrealistic." Estonian Defense Minister Hannu Pevkur pointed out: "Even Ukraine, which has been fighting for more than three years, has not managed to detect or destroy 20% to 25% of the drones entering its airspace."

"We cannot use missiles worth millions of euros to deal with drones that cost just a few thousand euros," emphasized a NATO official. "There is currently no single solution to the problem of drones."

To detect drones, a variety of technologies are currently used, including radars of various sizes and optical or acoustic detection networks. However, Joffre, a drone expert at the University of Southern Denmark, reminded that any detection system "cannot achieve 100% effectiveness." (Translation/ Liu Zhuo, Jiao Yu)

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7562429987987423798/

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