Our friends in Europe are having quite the start to the week.
In case you missed it: On Friday, leaders of the European Group of Five (E5)—Europe’s five biggest defense powers—announced from Krakow that they’re banding together to beef up low-cost air defense.
The new “multi-million euro” project—known as the Low-Cost Effectors & Autonomous Platforms’ initiative, or LEAP—will “see the development of advanced low-cost air defence systems – such as autonomous drones or missiles,” according to a statement by the UK government.
“From innovation in our defence industries to our ironclad commitment to Ukraine, we’re showing that European nations are ready to deter, defend and if necessary, fight, together,” UK Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard said in a statement.
The idea is, according to a joint statement by the UK, Poland, Germany, France, and Italy, to “prevent potential aggression by Russia and ensure the capacity to respond to a broad range of threats.”
Good to know we’re finally learning lessons from Ukraine, a full four years on.
Quick mafs: At the end of the day, the hype for low-cost interceptors (the kind of things LEAP aims to build) is the result of a math problem.
Put simply—it makes, like, zero sense to use exquisite, expensive systems to shoot down cheap drones like the ones that have been flown by the millions on the battlefield in Ukraine. Hitting a $1K drone with a multi-million-dollar missile might work, but it’s also pretty fricking stupid, cost-wise.
- Enter: Low-cost interceptors, or mini-drone-missiles as we like to call them.
- Companies from TYTAN, to Alta Ares, Harmattan, to Mach, to Anduril have all built platforms designed to knock drones, missiles, and rockets out of the air for far cheaper than a traditional air defense system.
- These interceptors come in different sizes and shapes—some are bomb-like quadcopters, others look more like tiny rockets and missiles—but the core idea is pretty similar: Take stuff down for less than it costs to build it.
Shoot ‘em down: This has been particularly relevant on the battlefield in Ukraine. In 2025 alone, Russia flew nearly 50K Shahed-type drones, most of them the strike variant.
- Shahed-136 “kamikaze” drones (or Geran-2, the Russian variant) cost about $10K-50K to produce.
- A single Western-provided Patriot interceptor costs $2-3M—and Ukraine definitely does not have enough of them to waste on over 500 Russian drones a day.
- Instead, Ukraine has developed low-cost interceptors like the “Sting” and “Salyut,” which can cost as little as $1.5-2K.
- The UK has also teamed up with Ukraine to mass-produce the Octopus-100, a cheap, Ukrainian-designed interceptor now being churned out in the UK.
Speedy quick: LEAP’s first project will be a new-age, lightweight, low-cost surface-to-air weapon “designed to counter the drone and missile threat,” according to the UK statement.
- The UK says the program will “prioritise speed and adaptability.”
- The program will be open to both major defense manufacturers and smaller producers, and the capabilities will be for both European powers and Ukraine.
The E5 countries say they expect to complete the first interceptor project by the end of 2027.