Today at 17.00 Defense ON AIR "War in Ukraine: European industry facing an epochal challenge"

20/02/23

The Ukrainian carnage proceeds and the end cannot be glimpsed, not even remotely. On Saturday 18 February, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, affirmed the need to "doubling military support to Ukraine". Last month, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said: "NATO allies and EU member states depleted their stockpiles of weapons to support Ukraine, but it was the right thing to do".

But will a Europe that for decades has seen defense as almost a "necessary evil" (with few exceptions) be able to face an epochal challenge?

Will the Union, while aggregating countries that (overall) allocate around half of US financial resources to defence, be able to emulate its efficiency and industrial capabilities?

In short, will a community that is still politically fragmented be able to optimize its industrial capabilities to face the war... which is only just beginning?

A few weeks ago, after more than three years at the top, theAdmiral Matteo Bisceglia left the directorship of OCCAR, the European organization that manages European cooperation programs in the field of armaments. We interview him today at 17.00 pm to understand if Defense Europe will be able to provide credible tools (with a reasonable cost/effectiveness) or if the usual logic - small - will prevail.

See you there!

Photo: Bundeswehr