Overview
- Defense ministers meeting in Krakow unveiled LEAP as a joint program to develop low-cost effectors and autonomous platforms.
- Poland’s Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said the five signed an agreement and pledged a multimillion investment for drone strike and air-defense capabilities.
- The initiative will draw on Ukrainian wartime expertise to speed production of interceptors and autonomous drones, with partners targeting output within a year.
- Officials say cheaper systems are needed after 2025 incidents, including drones over Poland that triggered expensive fighter-jet responses.
- The ministers backed scaling Europe’s defense industrial base, welcomed EU fiscal flexibility, and stressed coordination through NATO and the EU with capabilities remaining national.