Euractiv: EU defense industry failing to keep pace with Ukraine’s needs

Europe’s defense industry is not producing weapons fast enough to meet the demands of the conflict in Ukraine.

This is reported by Euractiv.

The outlet notes that most European Union defense programs are launched on a 5–10 year horizon. Over such a timeframe, specific weapons systems can become obsolete before all approvals are finalized.

A European Commission official working with Ukraine’s defense industry stated that European states have an insufficiently flexible system.

According to Euractiv, the EU is trying to compensate for the lag through joint ventures, licensing agreements, and launching production facilities together with Ukrainian companies, which operate more quickly.

It was previously reported that the European Union may pressure Greece and Spain over insufficient deliveries of missiles to Ukraine. Meetings of EU defense and foreign ministers are scheduled for early September, at which pressure will be applied to countries that have not made a significant contribution to supplying Ukraine with interceptor missiles.