NEW YORK, February 20. /TASS/. The European Group of Five (E5 - Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Poland) will jointly develop low-cost air defense weapons based on battlefield lessons in Ukraine, their defense ministers said, Bloomberg reported, citing sources and a draft joint statement.

The project’s launch could be announced as early as Friday at a meeting of the E5 defense ministers, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas, and NATO Deputy Secretary General Radmila Sekerinska. The plan has been tentatively titled Low-Cost Effectors and Autonomous Platforms (LEAP).

"LEAP aims to develop autonomous drones and missiles that could be used for air defense," according to Bloomberg. "The work of the so-called European Group of Five, or E5, countries is expected to take place within the framework of NATO, where Europeans have been trying to carve out a more autonomous presence," the agency reported.

"We want to develop innovative systems, particularly for defense against drones, quickly and cost-effectively, and then produce them in large numbers just as quickly," Bloomber cited German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius as saying at a joint news conference on Friday. "And if LEAP proves successful, which we all expect it to, it could serve as a model for other areas," he said.