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  • NEWS FEATURE

Will war in Ukraine mark a new era for European defence research?

After Russia’s invasion, politicians promised to boost military research funding — but policy specialists aren’t convinced that a rapid change lies ahead.
  1. Ann Finkbeiner

    1. Ann Finkbeiner is a science writer in Baltimore, Maryland.

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  2. Richard Van Noorden
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UK Royal Marines test a Malloy Aeronautics heavy lift drone during military exercises in Cyprus.

Heavy-lift drone technology is tested during a UK military exercise in Cyprus. Credit: PO Phot Si Ethell/UK MoD Crown Copyright 2020

Some time in the next decade, solar-powered European airships might hover 20 kilometres above battlefields, relaying crucial details about the movement of troops below. These extremely high-altitude drones, or pseudo-satellites, haven’t yet taken flight. They’re one of scores of research and development (R&D) projects supported by the European Defence Fund (EDF), a European Union fund that this July announced the winners of its first set of grants, worth €1.2 billion (US$1.24 billion).

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Nature 608, 466-467 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-02185-x

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