On Thursday 30 November, the Aerospace, Security and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD), which brings together 4,000 companies, called on the Member States to award them contracts.
EU Member States have pledged to supply Ukraine with one million rounds of ammunition by the end of March 2024, but this could take longer. “We’re working on shipping a million rounds of artillery ammunition to Ukraine. Yes, it’s a challenge. It will take a little longer than expected, but it will happen”, acknowledged the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, during a speech at the European Defence Agency (EDA) conference.
But to produce, industries need contracts. “The acquisition process is still quite slow”, explained Micael Johansson, vice-chairman of ASD and president of Saab, adding that they were starting to arrive.
In his speech, Mr Michel said that the EU needed to increase funding for its defence industry. “Increasing the predictability of public orders will help our industry to access private finance and send a very clear message: let’s produce and we’ll buy”, he explained. Mr Johansson warned, however, that industries could not “invest money in things without getting long-term commitments, and that is somewhat lacking these days”.
He pointed out that political declarations were disconnected from long-term contracts, and that industries waited for contracts before taking action.
Mr Johansson pointed out that 155mm ammunition - highlighted in the legislative Act in Support of Ammunition Production - had been out of contract for many years and that it would take time to resume production. He promised that the industries were doing their best to speed up production.
While the EU’s High Representative, Josep Borrell, called on industry to prioritise European orders for Ukraine (see EUROPE 13292/1), Mr Johansson said that industry could not make the political decision to prioritise contracts with European countries, adding that it was difficult to prioritise Europeans if they did not have any contracts. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)