Europe is in the process of rethinking its domestic defence capabilities as the US under President Donald Trump shows growing signs of wavering on decades of close strategic alliances. With the Russian-Ukrainian war now in its fourth year, more governments in Europe say they’re on their own to defend themselves against any future aggression coming from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has shown little inclination so far to give in to pressure from Washington and end the conflict.
Europe’s biggest missile maker plans to spend as much as €2.5 billion in the next five years to lift production and will go on a hiring spree as the region refocuses on supporting local arms providers amid increasingly fraught trans-Atlantic relations.
MBDA Missile Systems, a venture between France’s Airbus, BAE Systems from the UK and Leonardo of Italy, plans to bolster its workforce to 19,000 in 2025 by adding 2,600 employees, CEO Eric Beranger said at a press conference in Paris on Monday. The company boasts an order backlog of €37 billion after the intake reached an all-time high of €13.4 billion last year, he said.
