PESCO (Permanent Structured Cooperation): Currently managing over 80 collaborative projects. Key 2026 focuses include Cyber Rapid Response Teams and the Common Hub for Governmental Imagery (CoHGI), which uses AI to analyze satellite data.
European Defence Fund (EDF): Investing billions into "disruptive technologies." Projects for 2026 emphasize Post-Quantum Cryptography to protect blockchain-based communications from future quantum threats.
3. Notable National Developments
Italy: Recently introduced a modular, AI-powered architecture that protects across land, sea, and space. It is designed for interoperability, allowing EU allies to "plug in" their own sensors.
France (Project Montereau): A €4 billion high-power computing hub built on a former industrial site. It serves as a strategic anchor for European sovereign AI capacity, ensuring the continent has the raw compute power to train defense models.
Critical Challenges
Despite the progress, Europe still faces a "Capability Gap" compared to the U.S. and China. The main hurdles are:
Talent Scarcity: A high demand for IT professionals who understand both AI ethics and military-grade blockchain.
Fragmented Markets: While PESCO aims for unity, individual member states still often prioritize national vendors.
Key Trend for 2026: We are seeing the rise of "Autonomous Cyber Defense." AI agents now monitor networks and respond to zero-day attacks automatically, while blockchain provides a forensic, tamper-proof record of every defensive action taken.