【Time Mark】Europe Invests Heavily in National Defense, How Will Weapons Cut Ties with the US

Recently, Europe announced an investment of 800 billion euros for defense construction throughout the continent, which is an exciting development in terms of European defense autonomy. Europe places a greater emphasis on land and naval equipment, but when it comes to costly long-range missiles, advanced fighter jets, bombers, reconnaissance and early warning systems, and space capabilities, it relies more on the United States.

Achieving defense autonomy requires not only increased funding but also advancements in weapon research, development, manufacturing, as well as recruiting and training personnel to keep pace. Since the end of the Cold War, Europe has enjoyed a long period of peace but is burdened by high debts, making the journey towards defense autonomy a long and challenging one. Additionally, with numerous countries in the European Union and NATO, each having their own agendas, realizing true defense autonomy remains a variable goal.

In the 8 trillion euro plan proposed by European Commission President von der Leyen, 6.5 trillion will come from individual countries increasing their own defense budgets, while the remaining 1.5 trillion will be provided as loans by the EU. These contributions are not mandatory, so the feasibility of achieving this goal remains uncertain.

Europe boasts many renowned defense industry companies, with each country eager to procure weapons and equipment produced domestically. This has led to a wide variety of weapons in Europe with low production volume for individual models, resulting in complex logistics and maintenance. The recently released “European Defense Preparedness 2030 White Paper” on March 19 highlighted that Europe has 19 main battle tanks compared to the United States’ single model, and 17 types of torpedoes compared to only 2 in the U.S. Therefore, the EU Commission aims to establish a true EU-wide defense equipment market to streamline and coordinate regulations. These measures seek to reduce the fragmentation of the European defense industry, as currently, many manufacturers produce different weapon systems for different countries. However, some EU countries have expressed opposition, preferring to retain decision-making power within national governments.

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