Europe’s Strategic Blind Spot
Europe is sleepwalking into irrelevance. While adversaries invest in drone swarms, cyber arsenals, and electromagnetic warfare, Brussels is still pouring millions into main battle tanks—symbols of 20th-century warfare that now serve more ceremonial than strategic purposes.
The EU’s €19 million FMBTech initiative, hailed as “modernisation,” exposes a deeper rot: the prioritisation of legacy optics over operational relevance. In an era where $350 drones routinely defeat $5 million tanks, Europe’s war priorities are not just outdated—they are dangerously delusional. This is not a debate about platforms. It is a warning about posture.
Steel Fetish in the Digital Age
In April 2025, the European Union unveiled its latest defence project: the €19 million FMBTech initiative. Led by Thales and involving 26 companies across 13 European Union nations and Norway, the plan is to modernise main battle tanks (MBTS) for the next generation of warfare. Demonstrating Europe’s decision to choose legacy weapons like Tanks over tech.
But the battlefield has already moved on, and Europe’s war priorities are backwards. Tanks no longer dominate. Cheap, weaponised drones now rule. And Europe, mired in Cold War fantasies, is wasting time, money, and strategic advantage.
€350 Drones Are Beating €5M Tanks
The war in Ukraine has proven it beyond doubt: inexpensive FPV drones, often built in volunteer workshops, now destroy armoured vehicles worth millions. These drones, costing as little as $350, have rewritten modern military doctrine. The EU should not be choosing Tanks Over Tech.
Footage from Ukraine shows German Leopard 2s and American M1 Abrams—symbols of Western military power—disabled or destroyed by airborne attacks. This is not theory. It’s happening every day. As Politico reported, entire armoured columns have been neutralised by cheap UAVS, highlighting just how much Europe’s war priorities are backwards.
FMBTech: A Misfire in the Making
The FMBTech project promises next-generation tanks—“modular,” “intelligent,” and “cooperative.” But what good is a smarter tank if it’s still a sitting duck?
According to the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), heavy armour no longer offers battlefield dominance. Instead of developing counter-drone technologies, cyber-defence protocols, or AI targeting systems, Europe is doubling down on an obsolete platform. That’s not modernisation. That’s inertia.
By pouring millions into metal hulls, Brussels is ignoring the future—and misreading the present. Europe’s war priorities are backwards, and the gap between threat and response grows wider by the day.
Real Battlefields Aren’t Made of Steel
Today’s warfare unfolds not in trenches, but in code. In digital sabotage. In narrative manipulation and psychological operations. The tools of modern warfare are software, sensors, and signal jammers—not steel tracks and 120mm shells.
Russia understands this. So does Iran. Even non-state actors now deploy cheap drone swarms, electromagnetic interference, and AI surveillance. Meanwhile, the EU still funds tanks.
While the EU talks sovereignty and innovation, its defence spending betrays a dangerous strategic delusion. Europe remains unprepared for the actual threat landscape because Europe’s war priorities are backwards.
Bureaucracy Over Battlespace
So why keep building Tanks Over Tech?
Because they look good on parade grounds, they fulfil legacy contracts. And they allow politicians to look strong without being ready.
But every euro spent on tanks is a euro not spent on digital resilience, drone deterrence, or electronic warfare systems. Europe is not just wasting money—it’s ceding initiative to adversaries who are far more adaptive.
Unless the EU pivots quickly, its defence posture will become not only outdated but also irrelevant.
Abandon the Dinosaurs
Europe faces real threats. But it’s preparing for the wrong war.
A €19 million tank program won’t stop a $350 drone. A smarter turret won’t protect against Russian bots or Chinese cyberattacks. Europe’s war priorities are backwards, and unless that changes, the continent will remain dangerously exposed.
What Europe needs is agility, not armour. Signal, not steel. Sovereign technologies, not nostalgic symbols.
The future of war won’t be won with tanks. It will be won by those who can adapt and lead offensives faster than they become targets. And, unfortunately, Europe, the bureaucratic juggernaut, is, without a doubt, the latter.
Further Reading:
- How $400 Drones Are Redefining Modern War
- How Ukraine’s defence tech is shaping the future of warfare
- Drone Technology Is Transforming Warfare in Real Time
- Britain Is Arming for the Wrong War: Find Out Why
