Europe boosts missile production as orders surge amid U.S. defense uncertainty

U.S. President Donald Trump pressured Europe to increase its defense expenditure and revived the suspension of arms supplies to Ukraine. As a result, European countries have begun to reduce their dependence on American weapons. The Financial Times (FT), The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), and others reported on the 17th (local time) that as Europe moves toward rearming itself away from U.S. military power, orders to the European missile manufacturer MBDA are flooding in.

Eric Beranger, CEO of MBDA, noted to FT that "countries that previously relied on the U.S. are consulting with us" and that there have been more discussions with several countries since the beginning of this year. He added that "the comments from U.S. officials are creating uncertainty in the minds of various national leaders about whether the U.S. can be trusted as an ally."

MBDA is the company that produced the long-range Storm Shadow Scalp cruise missile used in Ukraine. It manufactures and supplies various missiles primarily used in the air, on land, and at sea in countries like France, the UK, and Italy. MBDA is one of the few defense industry firms in Europe, with BAE Systems and Airbus each owning 37.5% equity. The remainder is owned by Italy's Leonardo. MBDA's revenue for 2024 is expected to be 4.9 billion euros (about 7.76 trillion won), a 9% increase from the previous year, and the volume of weapon orders has more than doubled compared to before the Ukraine-Russia war in 2021.

However, MBDA is struggling to increase its production. Since Russia invaded Ukraine, military expenditure in Europe has increased, boosting orders to European defense industries; however, so far, the production capacity of European defense firms has struggled to keep up with demand. Consequently, Europe has relied on imports of U.S. military supplies. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, about two-thirds of the weapons imported by North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member countries will be from the U.S. by 2024. As a result, the French government threatened last year that if MBDA did not accelerate missile production, it would nationalize part of the production.

CEO Beranger announced that MBDA will produce twice as many missiles by the end of this year compared to what was produced in 2023. Currently, MBDA manufactures 40 short-range Mistral missiles per month. This is a fourfold increase from the production of 10 units per month before Russia invaded Ukraine. Additionally, the production of the Akeron anti-tank guided missile will be doubled to produce 40 units per month.

To increase production, it is necessary to hire skilled personnel and establish stable supply chains. MBDA hired 2,500 people in the UK, France, and Italy last year and plans to hire an additional 2,600 people this year. In central France, the company is collaborating with local governments to recruit and train new employees. It is also offering higher salaries to attract talent. On the 17th, MBDA announced that it aims to increase production to handle orders worth about $40 billion (about 58.36 trillion won) by 2028 and that it will invest $2.7 billion (about 3.92 trillion won) for this purpose.