Europe is a giant: €20 trillion GDP, half a billion people, unmatched industrial depth. On paper, we should own the skies. So why aren’t we miles ahead?

Small unmanned systems are reshaping warfare — faster decisions, no human fatigue, constant eyes and reach. They’re not a sideshow anymore. They’re the main act. Russia has adapted fast, deploying huge numbers of nimble, networked drones. Not unbeatable individually — but integrated, resilient, and forcing costly responses.

For Europe, the real challenge isn’t just building drones. Companies like Quantum Systems and Stark are doing this already. Rather, it’s ensuring they can communicate, navigate, and survive in hostile, GNSS-denied, jammed environments. That means resilient, affordable, and modular datalinks with strong jamming resistance, backed by the ability to manufacture them at scale in Europe. Right now, this package is missing.

If Europe wants to keep the skies, it can’t just count GDP or F-35s. In the drone era, the real metric is how fast you can adapt—and how quickly you can field and sustain affordable and resilient systems in the fight.