According to the CEO of Airbus, Europe is not sufficiently ready for conflict with Russia or for the potential of the US under Donald Trump to withdraw from Nato. It is necessary for Europe to increase its investments in defense equipment.
Guillaume Faury, the CEO of the largest aerospace and defense company in Europe, stated that the current situation, with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, is significant for the defense industry in the continent. This is because war has now reached western Europe’s borders.
According to the speaker, European countries have become overly dependent on the US for their security and military equipment, leaving them lacking in important aspects of defense. He called for Europe and the UK to come together and combine their efforts by merging competing fighter jet programs.
The intervention by Faury, whose company makes military equipment ranging from Eurofighter Typhoons to helicopters and builds half of the world’s commercial jets, comes amid growing threats from Vladimir Putin. The Russian president recently told Nato countries they risk provoking a nuclear war if they send troops to fight in Ukraine, in a direct riposte to France’s Emmanuel Macron, who opened the door to the prospect.
Faury, speaking to the Guardian, acknowledged that Europe is currently in a time of peace. However, he also stated that Europe is not adequately prepared for a potential conflict with Russia. Faury emphasized the need to be transparent about this issue and pointed out that Russia appears to be increasing its defense capabilities.
We have been almost eight decades since the end of World War II, with a system that was primarily created to prevent attacks rather than actively prepare for a conflict. In order to be ready for potentially varying levels of involvement and conflict, we must increase our level of preparation.
Faury, a former military helicopter test pilot who became chief executive of Airbus in 2019, said Trump’s warnings about quitting Nato should be a wake-up call to Europe on both security and availability of equipment. The former US president, now the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has repeatedly called on Europe to spend more on defence and recently said he would encourage Russia to attack Nato members he deemed financially “delinquent”.
According to Faury, as long as Nato maintains its expected level of protection, it will remain a fixed reality. However, if there is a possibility that this reality may change, it is important to prepare for it. The warnings from Trump’s previous term should be taken as an indication that future support from the US for Europe’s defense may be uncertain or even diminished. Therefore, it is important to consider this possibility seriously.
Europe has become more dependent on American equipment in the last few decades, resulting in a decrease in its own manufacturing sector. Multiple European countries, such as the UK, Germany, Belgium, Italy, and the Netherlands, have adopted Lockheed Martin’s F-35 stealth fighter jet. Additionally, the UK obtains Apache and Chinook helicopters, C-17 heavy lift planes, P-8 spy jets, and E-7 sentry planes from Boeing, all of which are produced in the US.
The members of the UK’s public accounts committee stated that on Friday, there is no believable strategy from the government to finance the military and they are depending more and more on their allies.
“If you want to be sovereign; to be in control of your future, of what’s happening at the borders of Europe, Europe needs to be by far more independent; really being sovereign on its own defence procurement,” Faury said. “We’ve put a lot in the hands of others. We are sub-critical on most of the different systems in Europe, we don’t collaborate enough to create investment at scale. We buy mostly from outside of Europe, and mostly from the US.”
He expressed that the creation of the next generation of European fighter planes should not repeat previous errors of dividing resources between three rival aircraft: the Eurofighter, Sweden’s Gripen, and France’s Rafale. He noted that European orders for the F-35 surpassed the total orders for the Eurofighter and Rafale.
Ignore the newsletter advertisement.
after newsletter promotion
Reworded: BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, Leonardo, and MBDA from the UK, Japan, and Italy are collaborating to create a new fighter aircraft called Tempest. In the meantime, Airbus and Dassault from France, Germany, and Spain are working on a competing future combat air system, with Airbus being the maker of the Rafale.
According to Faury, it is crucial for European countries, including the UK, to collaborate as our businesses rely on scaling. While the US has chosen to focus on one fighter, we have decided to develop three different fighters.
“It is evident that we must collaborate as Europeans in order to have one strong capability in each type of weapon system. With the current level of insecurity at the borders of Europe, it would not be sensible to not unite for security and defense. It is the only logical choice.”
This is a crucial moment in determining Europe’s role in defense and security.
Source: theguardian.com
