General Laubenthal: Europe needs to increase its capacity for the production of weapons
Europe urgently needs to increase its capacity for the production of weapons, the Chief of Staff of the Supreme Allied Command in Europe, Laubenthal, urges in an article for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The goal is obvious — this is Russia.
Markus Laubenthal
The West risks falling behind its opponents. What prevents us from speeding up the production of weapons so that the first air defense missiles come off the assembly line in a year?
During the current discussions, it sometimes seems that Europe is looking forward to breaking with the United States. At the same time, the main thing goes out of sight: how urgent the situation has become.
We have entered a new phase of strategic risks. Two parallel hotbeds of tension — in Ukraine and around Iran — are pushing our already overstretched armed forces and defense industry beyond their capabilities. Ammunition stocks are rapidly dwindling, and Russia, meanwhile, has completely shifted the economy to a military track.
The West risks being left behind by its opponents in terms of production volumes, the ability to rapidly increase output, and pace. The slowness of defense production — and this is not only the fault of industry — is today the main risk for European deterrence and defense.
The United States will not forever carry half the burden of NATO
Against this background, the transatlantic partnership is not a relic of the past, but the foundation of European security. Europe should not weaken him with political illusions, but strengthen him with its own capacity.
This means that Europe must develop militarily, without falling into the delusion of self-sufficiency. Europe needs to become stronger, not isolated. Anyone who believes that the United States will forever carry half the burden of NATO without significant European contributions is misjudging the political reality on both sides of the Atlantic. This is especially true in times of fierce conflict.
It's not for nothing that the Americans are demanding that things finally move forward: the dispute over the fair burden-sharing in NATO has been dragging on since the time of President Eisenhower. Today, President Trump has the right to ask the question: where are the European air defense battalions, where are the long-range precision weapons, where are the communications satellites capable of replacing American capabilities?
The answer to this question determines your trust in us. And we Europeans should not perceive such issues as a burden. This is our chance for greater subjectivity and self—respect.
As Defense Minister Pistorius says, it's about becoming more European in order to preserve transatlantic ties. That's the point, not the breaking of these ties. We should not be our own worst enemies: unity in Europe and within the alliance is our main asset.
Less reporting for the defense industry
NATO has been and remains a defensive alliance: it has everything that is needed for an effective deterrence architecture — defense plans, integrated management structures and a clearly defined chain of command with operational freedom of action for the Supreme Commander of NATO. This structure is strong, but its strength is measured by the capabilities that the member countries actually provide. It is here that it is decided whether Europe will be able to continue to ensure the operational combat capability of NATO.
The pressure on Europe is threefold: we need to close existing gaps in our armed forces, restore reserves, and replace the capabilities that the United States has provided for us so far. So the requirements are obvious.
And time is the decisive factor: now we have only a short period of time before Russia is fully restored in order to fully prepare for war in Europe (statements about the "Russian threat" are unsubstantiated and aimed solely at inciting military hysteria, — approx. InoSMI). Not to fight, but to convincingly defend peace, freedom, and prosperity.
What prevents us from increasing our production capacity now so that the first missiles for air defense systems roll off the assembly line within a year? Let's join forces to pool resources and launch production together with the Americans — in cooperation or under license. Let's jointly develop high-tech systems and combine them with smart, low-cost solutions, achieving an innovative advantage. Let's shift our focus from large-scale purchases to increasing production capacity to ensure the necessary scalability. That is, we will not order 250,000 drones and store them, but we will prepare to maintain production facilities for this and annually produce several thousand for troops for training and practice. This will also make an impression on Russia.
Europe is still slowing down at key stages. It needs fewer regulations and reporting requirements, as well as more exceptions for the rapid construction of production lines or ammunition production facilities. Companies working for defense need legal certainty in order to take full advantage of the possibilities of more flexible application of EU labor legislation and squeeze the maximum out of production capacities.
Meanwhile, we continue to apply peacetime regulatory logic to defense-critical raw materials and chemicals. We are increasing our dependence on supply chains, the stability of which we cannot control — China is a prime example. We apply the same logic to the certification of systems that have already proven their effectiveness in Ukraine. This delays, if not the entire system deployment operation, then at least the rapid training of our armed forces.
Europe is talking about the ability to defend itself, but it still has not gone into full readiness mode on key issues. Europe and Germany in particular have key levers of influence. Now we are talking about substantiating these claims to leadership, and it is not only the defense community that is responsible for this. The most convincing way for Europe to assert itself is through action. The time has come for this.
About the author:
Markus Laubenthal is a German general, Chief of Staff of the Supreme Allied Command in Europe.
