 members are set to spend more than €100 billion ($116 billion) on defense procurement for the first time this year, the European...)
European Union (EU) members are set to spend more than €100 billion ($116 billion) on defense procurement for the first time this year, the European Defense Agency (EDA) says in a new report. Defense procurement spending in 2024 stood at €88 billion for EU member countries, a 39% jump over the 2023 figure. “In 2025, the projected expenditure on defense equipment procurement is likely to exceed €100 billion,” EDA said in a Sept. 1 report. “The increase in defense procurement spending will likely continue in the coming years,” EDA adds.
It is not just procurement spending that is going up. EDA says that EU members put a record €106 billion into defense investment in 2024 and are set to reach close to €130 billion this year. Total defense expenditure that reached €343 billion, or 19% more than the year prior, is on pace to reach €381 billion at constant prices, EDA says. R&D spending increased 20% to €13 billion, EDA notes, projecting a rise to €17 billion in 2025.
The increase in procurement spending has outpaced that in R&D commitments in part because European governments have focused on quickly plugging capability gaps, the report notes. However, EDA—which was created in part for Europe to spend money more wisely by working together on equipment—points out that the region’s expenditure remains fractured. EU members “operate a wider variety of weapon systems across key platforms when compared to the U.S., leading to interoperability issues and consequently making joint operations, logistics, maintenance and training more challenging.”
The EU has continued to push members to do more together, with some success—such as joint procurement of air and missile defense systems. EDA notes that European companies will have to lay out a lot more money, though, to meet the NATO goal of 3.5% of GDP going to core defense spending. “Meeting the new NATO target of 3.5% of GDP will require even more effort by many member states, spending a total of more than €630 billion a year,” the agency says.
(Source: Aviation Week, Robert Wall. Photo/Matthias Balk)
