Europe is pouring billions into its defense industry, with record spending following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but experts say the EU needs to take bolder steps to be battle-ready.
Defense companies, the military and EU leaders agree that Europe is seriously lacking, especially in terms of the funds available to support Ukraine.
But the to-do list for restructuring the sector is long.
Many of the participants at the annual conference of the European Defense Agency (EDA) pointed to issues from funding to interoperability and research and development.
"We need clarity on priorities, cooperation, pooling of financial resources and coherence between the EU and national states," said Eric Beranger, chief executive of missile systems maker MBDA,
"We need to know where to focus and prepare for the future," he said.
Although military spending in the European Union reached a record 270 billion euros this year, spending on military research is falling.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who also heads the European Defence Agency (EDA), said the bloc still faces "key capability gaps" and continues to "fall behind other global players".
Moscow has announced a massive 68% increase in military spending for 2024, meaning it will make up almost a third of all Russian government spending.
The 27 EU member states spend an average of 1.5% of their country's economic output, well below NATO's target of 2% for its members, 22 of which are also EU members.
In contrast, the United States spends 3.5% of its already higher GDP on defense.
Ukraine's European allies have reaffirmed their support for Kiev, but some are reluctant to pay more.
In an attempt to find a way out of the problem, European Council President Charles Michel proposed European defense bonds.
But EU debt is a taboo subject for many member states, starting with economic powerhouse Germany.
However, nearly 60 billion euros were allocated to defense investments in Europe last year, according to EDA data.
In its annual report, the EDA said that in 2022 an all-time record €58 billion was allocated in the EU for defense investment, "overwhelmingly for the purchase of new equipment".
"This means we can invest at least 600 billion euros over the next 10 years. With 600 billion euros, we can do big things," Michel said.
He also called for a single market for defense in the EU, but achieving this goal will require significant improvements.
One of the problems facing Europe is the lack of interoperability between weapons on the ground.
"There are too many different weapon systems in Europe. And this leads to a lack of interoperability," said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
"The Dutch-German brigade uses the same type of howitzer. But the Dutch and the Germans cannot use each other's ammunition," said the former German defense minister.
Last week, Ukraine's NATO ambassador Natalia Galibarenko pointed out that her country's armed forces "already have more than 200 different weapons systems."
Some argue that more arms supply contracts are also needed.
The EU has set up a joint financing mechanism to meet Ukraine's demand for arms, but the bloc is struggling to meet promised supplies.
Brussels has promised to provide Ukraine with one million artillery shells by March 2024, but German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has admitted that this target will not be met.
Defense firms have hardly invested in such weapons, which Europeans say have become obsolete since the end of the Cold War.
"Who would have thought that today we would need tanks, air defense systems?" said General Michiel van der Laan, a senior Dutch officer seconded to the EU.
"With war on our doorstep," said Council chief Charles Michel, the EU can "secure long-term contracts because our security and stability will require long-term investment."
His message was clear to industry and countries: "produce and we will buy".
Armsmaker SAAB president Micael Johansson said he wanted to make commitments.
"We can't just throw money at things without getting long-term commitments, and that's kind of lacking these days," he said. /BGNES
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