NATO Allies have announced plans to invest more than $40 billion in counter-drone capabilities over the next five years and to train five times as many drone operators by the end of 2027.
The announcement was made on Tuesday at the NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum, the alliance press service reported.
NATO also said it will set up a counter-drone marketplace to support faster procurement, with systems that are NATO-tested, NATO-compatible and available to buy.
Expanded training through Flight Training Europe
Drone training will be expanded through NATO’s multinational Flight Training Europe (NFTE) initiative, which currently supports aircrew training and will be extended to include drone operators, NATO said.
Finland, France and Sweden joined NFTE at the forum, bringing the number of members to 20.
Participating Allies will have access to 16 NFTE flight centres across eight countries through the initiative.
NATO’s Support and Procurement Agency also awarded a contract worth “hundreds of millions of dollars” to buy surveillance drones for Allies.
