Integrated Arsenals? Mapping Defence Industrial Relations Between Europe and Ukraine

By Daniel Fiott

4.12.2024

ARES Group

Since Russia’s war on Ukraine, defence industrial cooperation between the European Union and Ukraine has been put high on the agenda. In addition to the armament deliveries being made to Kyiv, there is now the ambition to integrate Ukraine within the EU and the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base. To this end, governments and firms have engaged in interesting forms of industrial cooperation such as joint ventures and co-production. The task of this paper is to assess the extent and nature of this defence industrial cooperation. It conducts a mapping exercise of 21 EU member states to size up the extent of cooperation, and to analyse the political and industrial objectives of this cooperation. The paper assesses the types of technology being developed, but it also highlights some of the political and industrial challenges that hinder deeper cooperation.

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