EU pushes to expand Ukraine arms supplies and scale up lower-cost missile production

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EU expands Ukraine arms supply

Highlights

EU lawmakers urge immediate access to weapons stockpiles for Ukraine as Kyiv plans to produce 700 Flamingo cruise missiles in 2024 versus fewer than 300 in the EU.
Ukraine could utilize €60 billion from a new €90 billion loan to purchase EU arms, with selling countries reinvesting proceeds into inventories or production capacity expansion.
The European Commission's July plan aims to integrate the fragmented defence market by easing cross-border procurement barriers and supporting sector consolidation, including Project Bromo among Airbus, Thales, and Leonardo.

Stockpile proposal and missile output gap

As reported by Financial Times, Kubilius is urging European governments to open their weapons stockpiles so Ukraine can access urgently needed arms while the bloc works to increase production capacity. He argues that strengthening Ukraine remains essential, especially as support grows in Europe for reopening formal negotiating channels with Russia, saying that any peace must rest on Ukrainian military strength.

Kubilius says Europe is falling behind both Russia and Ukraine in missile manufacturing because many of its companies focus on highly sophisticated systems that are expensive and difficult to produce at scale. He contrasts that model with Ukraine’s wartime approach, pointing to the Ukrainian-made Flamingo cruise missile and saying Ukraine is ready to produce around 700 this year, compared with fewer than 300 in the EU and 1,200 in Russia.

He also says Ukraine could use a 60 billion euro weapons fund drawn from a recently agreed 90 billion euro loan to buy arms from EU stockpiles. In his proposal, selling countries would then be able to use those proceeds to replenish inventories or expand manufacturing output.

July reform plan targets fragmented defence market

The comments come as Brussels prepares new initiatives aimed at increasing defence production and reducing fragmentation across Europe’s arms industry. The European Commission is due to present a plan in July to build a more integrated market by addressing national procurement practices and regulatory barriers that Kubilius says have limited cross-border industrial co-operation.

He says national governments continue to shield domestic defence champions, citing France and Germany as examples where about 70 per cent of output is bought at home, while only around 10 per cent is sold to other EU countries. Planned reforms are expected to address technical obstacles including mutual recognition of testing and certification procedures, as well as simpler intra-EU transfer licences for military components that currently differ among member states.

Kubilius also backs greater consolidation in the sector, arguing that governments too often invoke national security exemptions to bypass market principles in procurement. In that context, he says Europe should not fear Project Bromo, the proposed tie-up between Airbus, Thales and Leonardo, which aims to create a European space and satellite group able to compete with Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

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