Abstract
Unmanned aerial vehicles, also known as drones, have gained a prominent place in transforming remotely the character of military warfare. This paper looks at the surprisingly under-studied European drone landscape. While the Security and Strategic Studies scholars and practitioners debate vigorously the legal and ethical aspects of armed drone strikes and the consequences of their proliferation for the international stability, this paper qualitatively assesses the different layers of drone proliferation dynamics in Europe to shed light on the often-invisible role of NATO and the EU in the diffusion of military technology. As European countries have been having immense problems with developing their own advanced drones in the past 20 years, this paper argues that NATO, through its military logic, and the EU, via its market logic, can channel national capability development efforts by offering R\&D funding, generating expertise, supporting procurement and maintenance, regulating airspace integration, and even acquiring the lacking capabilities on behalf of their member countries. These findings contribute to the capacity-based theories of military technology diffusion by showing how NATO and the EU can help countries overcome the platform and adoption challenges posed by advanced military unmanned technology.
Panel: Arms Procurement and Transfers
Cite this presentation
@inproceedings{eiss-2021-the-proliferation-of-military-drones-in-europe-not-so-easy-not-so-cheap-but-nato,
author = {Dominika Kunertova},
title = {The Proliferation of Military Drones in Europe – Not So Easy, Not So Cheap, but NATO and the EU Can Help},
booktitle = {European Security Studies Conference 2021},
year = {2021},
url = {https://eiss-europa.com/papers/2021-the-proliferation-of-military-drones-in-europe-not-so-easy-not-so-cheap-but-nato.html}
}