European Union (EU) mulls forming joint military force with rapid reaction capability to fight without U.S.

Dec. 1, 2021
The EU joint military force aims to develop new battle tanks and future combat air systems by a date to be set in agreement with EU states.

BRUSSELS – The European Union (EU) is considering a joint military force of as many as 5,000 troops to intervene in a range of crises without relying on the United States. Business Today reports. Continue reading original article

The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:

1 Dec. 2021 -- Here are some of the main points in the draft plan for the EU joint military force, the "Strategic Compass", which must be agreed to by EU leaders at a summit in March.

By 2025, the EU should develop a joint "Rapid Deployment Capacity" made up of land, sea and air components. By next year, the bloc wants to agree on scenarios in which such a rapid reaction force might be used, and then from 2023 begin regular military exercises, including naval drills.

To prevent cyber attacks, the EU aims to agree by next year to make its special Joint Cyber Unit fully operational. It is not clear if the EU would have "offensive" cyber capacities to disable foreign computer networks, a technique often considered less dangerous than sending in military forces.

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John Keller, chief editor
Military & Aerospace Electronics

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