NATO militaries should pair drones and other emerging tools with established capabilities, Admiral Pierre Vandier, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, told Global News as Canada pursues a 5% of GDP spending commitment by 2035.
Global News reported on Oct. 30 that Vandier discussed combining drones and electronic warfare with conventional military capabilities. He warned of the risks of leaving forces exposed to drone attacks, saying, “A force that is not protected against drones and (drone) swarms is a force at risk.”
NATO’s Digital Backbone eXperimentation (DiBaX) program has operated in Latvia with the Latvian Ministry of Defence since 2022. The alliance’s 2026 materials describe work on secure communications, AI-supported decision-making and counter-drone capabilities.
An Oct. 21 NATO update outlined a planned October scenario for its Next Generation Targeting work, with more than 6,000 simulated targets and more than 100 live targets. NATO said AI would assist the exercise while people retained authority over decisions.
Canada’s Department of National Defence said the country reached NATO’s benchmark of spending 2% of gross domestic product (GDP) on defense in fiscal 2025–26. The Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) says Canada’s 2035 commitment is 5% of GDP: at least 3.5% for core defense and up to 1.5% for ancillary defence and security-related spending.
Canada launched its Defence Drone Initiative on July 23 to accelerate the development, testing and production of domestic uncrewed and autonomous systems for the Canadian Armed Forces and Canadian Coast Guard. Its initial areas include surveillance drones, uncrewed ground and maritime systems, counter-drone interceptors and deep precision strike systems. National Defence says Canadian businesses that meet supplier requirements may compete for future work, but qualification alone does not secure a contract.
Under the PBO’s illustrative gradual path, annual core defense spending would rise from C$95.7 billion in 2030–31 to C$163.6 billion in 2035–36. Compared with a scenario that holds core spending at 2% of GDP, the additional outlays would increase the federal deficit by C$63.7 billion and federal debt by 5.7 percentage points of GDP in 2035–36, the PBO estimates.
Minister of Finance and National Revenue François-Philippe Champagne is scheduled to table Budget 2026 on Thursday, Nov. 5. Global News reported that the budget is expected to provide more detail on Canada’s defense spending plans; the Department of Finance Canada’s announcement confirmed the tabling date but did not outline those details.
