This is why we need common defense and foreign policy. Alone, we’re at best regional powers, at worst, colonies of the US or China.
Together we are a superpower both militarily and economically.
And - while I know this could be seen as militaristic and wasteful by a lot of Europeans who may not fully or correctly understand how much of a tectonic geopolitical shift is occurring right now - it would be very strategically prudent in the long run if the EU invested in their collective military might (up to and including serious force-projection hardware like CVNs and SSNs/SSBNs/SSGNs and stealth bombers).
As an American, our government definitely and demonstrably cannot be trusted in a strategic sense, and considering the expansionist plans that Russia certainly has in Eastern Europe, it is very much in your own interest to create a very credible military apparatus. Diplomacy is of course the preferred and civilized way to do things, but unfortunately, we are now (re)entering an era where the “or else” bit matters a LOT more, and the US is probably not going to be on your side.
CVNs and a larger navy are only useful if we want to get into the power projection game, and even then, we have some stuff already. I’m sure we could still do something like the Falklands war. The advamtage the US has its also its disadvantage, as we don’t need a fleet to get to the Middle East or Africa.
We have SSBNs enough that makes attacking the EU idiotic for even the US.
We do need strategic stuff like AWACS planes and more satellites though, but what we need most is standardisation, since there are like 11 MBTs in service in the EU right now.
Standardization is definately a huge issue, but energy independence for field operations is also critical - modern military equipment burns through power, and having reliable portable power solutions can be a game-changer (I’ve been comparing options on gearscouts.com and the LFP battery ones offer the best $/Wh for emergency deployment scenarios).
So is infrastructure. I mean, the Bundeswehr is supposed to go to the Eastern flank of the EU by using Deutsche Bahn? Also, ex-WP countries like Poland need to strengthen bridges and stuff since Western tanks are twice as big and heavy as T-72s, and the infrastructure was made to support an Eastern military, not a Western one.
This sounds really nice, though I see in article mostly mentioned “assigned amount of money”, and “items sent”. Nothing about actual industrial production within EU, which makes me feel a bit suspicious.
'Cause budget allocation is a fine topic, yet real value brought by that money allocation might differ to quite an extent 🤔
