BRUSSELS — European Union governments gave the green light on Tuesday for 13 new defense projects in a step to develop more firepower independently of the United States. Under plans agreed by EU defense ministers in Brussels, work will begin on a new patrol vessel, an electronic jamming weapon for aircraft and technology to track ballistic missiles. The projects took months to negotiate but French President Emmanuel Macron underlined the desire for deeper EU defense collaboration last week when he said the U.S.-led NATO defense alliance was dying. European defense planning, operations and weapons development foresee France taking a big role in 60% of the 47 projects, often with Germany, Italy and Spain. With Italy, France will develop a prototype for a new class of military ship, to be known as a European Patrol Corvette.

Source: National Post November 12, 2019 13:29 UTC