Interceptor drones within a year: five NATO countries launch the LEAP programme

Interceptor drones are to go into production within a year – that is the goal of a joint programme launched by Germany, France, Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom. The five NATO members, collectively referred to as the “E5 countries”, have decided to jointly develop low-cost effectors and autonomous platforms. The name “LEAP” is an acronym of “Low-Cost Effectors and Autonomous Platforms”.

British Minister for the Armed Forces Luke Pollard outlined the problem: relatively low-cost missiles, drones and other threats must be intercepted effectively. “We must ensure that the cost of the threats matches the cost of the defence,” Pollard said.

Today I represented the United Kingdom at the E5 meeting in Poland of Europe’s five largest defence powers.
We announced a new joint low cost effector we will develop jointly to take out drones and air threats.
We also reinforced our collective support for Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/vvsruRhm0a— Luke Pollard MP (@LukePollard) February 20, 2026

Interceptor drones instead of expensive air-to-air missiles

Several NATO states have recorded violations of their airspace in the course of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. Intruding drones were engaged by fighter aircraft with expensive air-to-air missiles. Ukraine has proven that interceptor drones are an efficient technique for intercepting kamikaze drones because they are cheap and scalable. There, pilots control the interceptor drones remotely. The “A” for autonomous in LEAP, by contrast, suggests that the programme also targets self-steering drones.

LEAP was initiated by the United Kingdom. The initiative reflects the fact that drones have revolutionised battlefield strategies in Ukraine – new types and AI integrations keep appearing on the market. The programme aims to change the “economics of warfare”: the cost of defence is to be geared to the relatively low cost of threatened drone and missile attacks.

There seems to be no alternative to the autonomous, low-cost interceptor drone. For one thing, it relieves the individual soldier of piloting the drone – a task that requires a great deal of training and experience. Ukraine has been investing in training its drone experts for roughly more than three years; even so, the number of true elite pilots among these specialists cannot be increased at will.

In addition, local swarm attacks can quickly overwhelm the drone pilots available on site for defence. Another factor is the free radio frequencies needed for control. They are not available in unlimited numbers at the same time and can ultimately be blocked – by hostile electromagnetic warfare as well as by the defensive efforts of one's own electronic warfare forces.

An interceptor drone currently costs a few thousand euros in Ukraine. That makes it far cheaper than even the cheapest surface-to-air missiles: in the MANPADS segment, prices start at around one hundred thousand euros apiece, while larger, no longer man-portable surface-to-air missiles cost around one million euros each.

To accelerate technology development, the E5 members are each pledging several million euros. The result is to be an effective effector that goes into production within a year and proves that the E5 group can deliver tangible results for national security.