New EU drone and counter-drone hubs, exercises coming in 2027

As part of efforts to deliver on its Priority Capability Areas, the EU will announce a series of new drone and counter-drone testing “hubs” at the end of 2026, culminating in an integrated network of Drone Technology Hubs. 

In addition to the hubs, a series of drone testing exercises will be launched in different locations across Europe, with the first set to take place in the North Sea in 2027, a senior official from the Netherlands Ministry of Defence announced during Apex Europe in London on 8 October. 

Part of a wider push 

These efforts support the new Drone and Counter-Drone European Resolve (DECODER) project, launched in September as one of the first five European Defence Projects of Common Interest, aimed at supporting the EU’s wider Priority Capability Areas. 

A total of EUR60 million is earmarked for the project.  

New drone and counter-drone hubs 

The official described the – currently undisclosed – hub locations as places where industry will be able to “test their equipment” alongside end-users, peers in industry, and civil agencies. 

These are to be funded by a combination of national and EU funds, they explained. 

Additionally, the official made clear his ambition for the hubs to also be accessible to non-traditional defence suppliers. “We want to open this up very easily,” he said, before suggesting that companies would be able to book testing time slots at hub locations “with just a few clicks”. 

In terms of their locations, the official said that – as part of EU efforts to complement NATO initiatives – there is potential for the hubs to be co-located at the sites of NATO's Innovation Ranges. 

Exercises from 2027 onwards 

The official also explained that NATO and EU bodies will come together to deliver operational experimentation exercises from 2027, with a focus on drone and counter-drone development and procurement. 

These, he said, would offer practical testing opportunities in relevant environments, sitting alongside the European Defence Agency's existing Operational Experimentation campaigns and including NATO’s Allied Command Transformation. 

For the first set of exercises, Latvia and the Netherlands are expected to lead the event, which will be situated in the North Sea and in Latvia. This will involve military users testing both drone technology and counter-drone effects in real-time, he added. 

The official told DSEI Gateway that he aims to bring procurement agencies and industry together at these events, so that companies can sell relevant, tested equipment to the agencies that require it. 

Going forward, he said there will be “a lot more exercises” in different locations around Europe.