Now they have woken it up and it is already surpassing the US in bullets produced per year

For much of the Cold War, Europe assumed that its industrial role in defense was secondary to American muscle, and that mass munitions production was on the other side of the Atlantic. Eight decades later, that logic starts to invest: not because the continent is fully rearmed, but because a single European company It is already capable of manufacturing more bullets in a year than the entire US military industry.

The geopolitical trigger. The turn of American policy under Trump, with insinuations as extreme as possible annexation of Greenland and one increasing pressure for Europe to assume its own defense, has reopened a question that for decades seemed unnecessary: ​​whether the continent would be capable of arm and defend yourself without the United States.

The response of analysts and policy makers is affirmativebut with important nuances, because replacing the US military umbrella (from personnel to equipment and critical capabilities) would have an estimated cost of around a billion dollars and would require years of industrial and strategic transformation.

The awakening I remembered a fact the wall street journal that we recently told: after decades of underfinancing and fragmentation, the European defense industry is experiencing its greatest acceleration since the Cold War, driven by the war in Ukraine and a massive increase of military spending.

The production of drones, ammunition, armored vehicles and ground systems has been shotwith new companies emerging in record time and large groups expanding factories and workforces, supported by a political and financial environment that just five years ago would have been unthinkable. This rearmament has turned Europe into an industrial actor much more dynamic, although still uneven according to sectors.

Money changes the balance. Another fact: Europe spent around to 560,000 million dollars in defense last year, double that of a decade ago, and its investment in equipment is on track to reach 2035 about 80% of that of the Pentagonwhen in 2019 it did not reach 30%.

This change not only brings operational autonomy closer, but also threatens to reduce the weight of American manufacturers in a market that today contributes up to 10% of your incomefueling a slow but perceptible shift towards weapons produced on the continent itself.

Advantages and successes. In some areas, Europe is no longer just defending itself, it is surpassing the United States. Companies like Rheinmetall will soon be able to produce more 155mm artillery ammunition than all American industry togetherwhile the continent dominates the manufacturing of battle tanks, ships and submarines that are successfully exported around the world.

Names like that of the leopard tankEuropean shipyards and the rise of drone manufacturers in small countries like Estoniaassets that illustrate a solid and increasingly competitive industrial base.

The great lagoons. Despite progress, they persist critical deficits that limit real independence: Europe lacks, for example, its own stealth fighters, and depends on the United States for what is called satellite intelligence, anti-missile defense, military cloud computing and very long-range missiles.

Not only that. How we countstill tied to maintenance and updating of American systems such as the F-35 or the Patriot. These gaps explain why many countries continue to purchase weapons outside the continent, even as they declare their intention to strengthen strategic autonomy.

Fragmentation, the great brake. More than the lack of technology, one of the main obstacles is the political and industrial dispersion: Each country wants its own plane, tank and ship, diluting investments, delaying programs and making production more expensive.

This fragmentation slows down rearmament, forces us to resort to external suppliers (like South Korea in the case of Poland) and makes it difficult for Europe to act as a coherent bloc capable of responding quickly to a major crisis.

Autonomy yes, but gradual. In summary, experts agree that Europe can arm and defend himself by itself, but not immediately, but progressively. Projects for long-range missiles, satellite constellations and greater industrial integration are already underway, with countries such as France and the United Kingdom trying to reduce key dependencies.

However, a significant degree of American supportwhich makes this billion dollar career in a hybrid something different than a sudden break with Washington, something more like a slow and complex transition towards a more self-sufficient European defense.

Image | 7th Army Training Command

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