Defense Industry: A New Chapter of Transatlantic Friction?

By Daniel Fiott

6.6.2024

Italian Institute for International Political Studies

How the forthcoming US presidential election will affect America’s perspective on Europe’s defence industry remains to be seen, although some of the contours of potential friction are already visible. Should the Democrats take the White House again, the long-term trend in US strategy will likely intensify with a core focus on China. This inevitably means that the US will expect Europeans to take on more of the responsibility within NATO and European security, not least in terms of the deliveries of aid and military equipment to Ukraine. For this to work, however, the Europeans will need to significantly ramp up their own defence industrial production, which may not necessarily benefit American producers. As many European countries are now locked into major US capability acquisitions (e.g., most European air forces are or will operate a variant of the F35 fighter), an insistence on ramping up production on consumables such as ammunition may not negatively impact US industrial interests.

Read