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As questions grow in the US’s commitment to European defenses grow, Brussels is exploring the creation of a new satellite network to provide military intelligence.
The system aims to partially replace US capabilities after President Donald Trump’s suspension over sharing intelligence news with Ukraine this month underscored Europe’s dependence on America.
“Given the changing geopolitical situation, the Commission is considering expanding its satellite capabilities to improve support for geospatial information for security,” Defense and Space Commissioner Andrius Kubilius told the Financial Times.
New satellite networks will be used to detect threats such as military movements and coordinate military action. The debate is just beginning, but Lithuanians said the blocks need networks to complement other programs used for navigation and Earth observation.
It is necessary to create more frequently updated information than low-orbit copernicus, which monitors climate change and natural disasters, but generates images around 24 hours a day.
Accepting that the project is expensive and takes time to build, Kubilius said he would ask member states if they needed a “temporary commercial approach.”
“We are trying to create a specific system as a service for the Earth Observation Government. There is sophisticated technology and high data availability,” he said, the system will operate in low Earth orbit. Such a network requires dozens of satellites.
He said the best commercial systems can track targets and military deployments with updates every 30 minutes.
The committee is also procuring IRIS², its own multi-orbit broadband network in low-earth orbit. This year we will complete the Govsatcom program, which links the systems of member countries.
Kubilius was speaking ahead of the start of the defense plan next week. The Commission could make 150 billion euros available in loans to member states, exclude some defensive expenditures from fiscal rules, and entrust more than 650 billion euros.
The plan, which saw by the FT, allows member states to ask the committee to procure arms and pools demand to ensure a better price.
The committee has yet to decide how spending should be limited, but President Ursula von der Leyen said the funds should be spent on European products.
Kubilius said that Norway and the UK “I hope” of the countries included in the mission.
Turkey is “still under discussion,” he said. However, he pointed out that Polish Prime Minister Donald Task, who holds a swivel chair in the EU, met Turkish President Recept Tayyip Erdogan on March 13th.
He said the funds could also be used to purchase weapons from Ukraine for its military. They are half the price of Westerners, and “and of course support the Ukrainian economy,” he said.
Kubilius said the plan highlights strategic areas where EU countries are too dependent on the US. These include air transport capacity, air refueling, and air warning and control.
He also prioritized missile defense systems, which could cost 500 million euros.
“We’re naked,” he said. “Do we develop that air defense in each country alone, or are we going to develop collectively? I think it would be better to have a joint system to coordinate to cover the entire territory. But that’s not something we can decide.”
