Despite growing concerns over political uncertainty in Washington, defence industry cooperation between the U.S. and Europe continues, experts said at a recent CEPA press briefing.
During the 21 May event on revitalising the transatlantic defence industrial strategy, I asked panellists whether diminished trust in the U.S. administration is affecting short-term cooperation between major defence firms on both sides of the Atlantic.
Jason Israel, the Auterion Senior Fellow for the Defense Technology Initiative at CEPA and a former Special Assistant to the U.S. President for Defence Policy, responded: “There is a very strong ability for—and interest in—ties between the companies to continue even amidst this trust and diplomacy deficit.”
Drawing on his experience in the Biden administration, Israel said: “I make the case for a grand bargain where companies could really make enormous contracts, or at least MoUs that explore big contracts between companies, because the interests are there.”
He cited three key drivers: large-scale European defence funding commitments, the need to expand the U.S. industrial base, and the relative scale difference between Europe’s and America’s defence sectors. “The European defence and technology industrial base, as they call it—the EDTIB—is just smaller, and the SAFE fund and others allow for its growth. But it’ll take a decade to ramp up to the ability to supply that kind of level.”
Israel pointed to the ongoing push for export reform as another area requiring urgent attention: “We need to be able to be more flexible and move faster.” He referenced the April 9 executive orders from the previous administration, which shifted the focus of protection under the export control regime. “From now on, only the most critical and sensitive technologies will be protected. That still has to be interpreted in a certain way, but exactly how that’s going to be interpreted will be very telling.”
When asked how companies can navigate the uncertainty, Israel recommended pursuing joint ventures: “If I’m a U.S. defence firm, I’m certainly looking for partnerships I could have with European firms—not only for Ukraine, but to take advantage of these new EU funding vessels.”
He also touched on the UK’s position post-Brexit, noting new developments that may strengthen UK-EU cooperation. “The UK-EU deal that was signed just this week includes something—at least the UK announced—that paves the way for the UK to be part of it.”
On EU defence initiatives like the “rearm Europe” fund, Israel clarified: “Much of that could look protectionist, but it doesn’t actually say 100% of finished goods have to be from Europe. It works with different percentages—somewhere between 40 and 70—based on different timelines and types of equipment.”
Jan Kallberg, also a CEPA fellow, said Europe is increasingly aware it must take greater responsibility for its own defence posture. “There’s a sobering up in Europe… They realise they already have to take care of their own business.”
He argued that trust, regulatory simplification, and differing industrial strengths—digital dominance in the U.S. versus mechanical expertise in Europe—remain fundamental barriers. On cloud services, he added that American firms dominate: “Fifteen years ago a CIO controlled 90% of the data. Now, maybe 10%. The rest is with cloud providers—Microsoft, Google, AWS. That’s a challenge but also a direction we must pursue.”
Israel concluded that, while political rhetoric may be volatile, corporate engagement remains forward-looking: “The companies will keep driving forward. But if we want scale, speed, and shared sovereignty, we need trust—and contracts.”
The problem is there is no option but to buy US for a lot of kit right now. Eg need a stealthy attack jet and F35s your only option. It will take time to develop alternatives, it’s why our governments handling of Trump had been spot on, as much as I would love for us to tell him to go do one.
Hopefully we’ll have some good marketing people pushing Tempest, if they can make this thing work the stars might align to open up a healthy export market.
There will never be European alternatives. Europe is caught in a feedback loop of low defense spending to prop up the welfare state and poor cohesion from prioritizing national interests. The Continent can’t even articulate a unified position on the Ukraine invasion. It has a hollow puff of a defence industry and looks to remain so.
Germany and Southern Europe are utterly pathetic, and they love the benefits that provides.
Good to see you are looking on the bright side Chris.
Personally I think there are signs individual European Countries are beginning to loop at their capability gaps with an aim of plugging them. Europe does not do much strategic thinking at the European level. But this may well be beneficial as some countries tend to be better at certain things. I would expect the UK to do rather well in this environment and to suggest that the welfare state will hold us back is to say the least missing the point.
Sounds like he has been poisoned by MAGA memes, bits of truth taken by hype and obscuration to reciculous heights of lies and self serving, the latest treatment of the South African President being all one needs to know about the rewriting of reality to suit the required message. Europe has a lot to do but it has exceptional defence and technology companies that possess the ability to expand and compete at all but a few technologies the US excels in mostly in software, ai and Space but even there the space se tor is growing and expanding and in DeepMind we have one of the most accomplished ai companies in the World. Software is where we rely too heavily on the US and must be a focus of investment. But now that US universities are being cut off at the knees there is great potential over time to compete in all manner of software and hardware development. Such academic research has already produced Britains lead in axial electric motors for transportation and aviation and if efforts to draw US research talent and foreign talent that’s no longer welcome there into European institutions then Europe as a whole could grow exponentially in terms of its research competitiveness and thus impact of technological innovation driving into commercial advances including in the defence sphere. Indeed as Canada is part of this network US citizens only need to cross the border to take advantage.
Defence products take a long time to develop but countries like the UK have been working on zero US content weapons for a long time because of ITAR.
In ten years almost everything will be available with no US content. No one will ever want to go back because the US has proven so unreliable.
This has nothing to do with Trump and everything to do with US political over reach and it’s been going on for atleast twenty years all though Britain being shafted in 1945 by Roosevelt conveniently leaving signed agreements about the Manhattan project in a drawer and Congress cutting both the UK and Canada off from a project they were instrumental in shows this is not a new thing.
Indeed not only instrumental in but freely gave the United States after much political consideration the whole mathematical basis for the atomic bomb, simply because we couldn’t finance its development. Trump likes to go off one about outsiders stealing US IP, technology and jobs yet practically all the US advances post war were from freely given uk technology and absorbed German technology. The US owes ‘foreigners’ rather a lot of gratitude for its wealth generation. Meanwhile it continues, the lies from Trump around bringing chip production back to the US, with the idiotic contention it had been ‘stolen’ is in reality bringing foreign core design and manufacturing innovation and technology to the US to replace the outmoded and increasingly bankrupt US chip technologies and companies they failed to modernise. Britain more than anyone could accuse others if we want to be that simplistic about losing industries.
Although I agree we still need the US, I think I would be a bit more critical about what we get. As an example, I would put all further purchases of F35 on hold until they are able to fire British missiles, meanwhile upping the numbers of Typhoon. However, at the moment I think that we need to develop drones, ammunition production and artillery as our immediate priorities. I would also be puuting out feelers to France about nuclear options.
This but also buy typhoon and say we do not progress with more f35 purchases unless we have access to source code so we can run integration here like the Israelis. Nuts that a manufacturer has a hold like that over its customers and delays and we can’t do anything about it.
As I said -‘meanwhile upping the numbers of Typhoons’. The source code issue is one where both governments blew it…
Agreed Britain and then Europe First, US only where there is no other immediate option. The only moderating factor should be around being clever at playing Trump in ways that Putin excels at and indeed Carney and the President of Mexico are pretty adept at too. Trump far from has all the cards in reality he can be played, rather like the Arabs just did ‘offering’ imaginary investments far greater in some cases than their whole GDP, he just wants something that sounds ‘big and beautiful’ that he can present to his gullible constituency not real meaningful commodities. He can blame those failures when they don’t materialise on whoever is President then.
Frankly, has long as uk does not choose between US and Europe (an ongoing discussion for 80 years), there are very Little chance (if any) France accepts further nuclear cooperation with UK.
Title completly inverts what happened. It is the reduced trust by USA in Europe.
I guess if your boss stops paying you what you were promised, it is you that broke his trust…
Really Alex that simplistic eh. In reality I don’t think you write the headlines but if you really want to then feel free to start your own website and profligate your own subjective take on events.
Sorry, but I’m quite the opposite…
Now that the US is licking pootins shoes and the way the US is
Blocking aid to Ukraine and disgraceful treatment of wartime leader Volodymyr Zelensky, whose country stands ALONE
against the one country that we have all feared since 1945
And we Britons faff about! cowering with heads in the sand!
We need to tell the US to sod off and stop throwing money at them!
We must pivot to Europe and others and strip our armed forces of US parts and weapon. So they can’t complain and block their use
Invest in the equipment that’s needed and kick the US to the subs bench
So many options out there, we don’t have to go to McDonald’s to feed the nation 😉😁
I agree John but we are so intertwined that it will take time to unravel us.
I am particularly worried about the CASD as the US has us by the short and curlys at the moment.
We need to reach out to France for options there.
Totally agree. Difficult decisions to be made.
Never trust the Americans, they’ll throw all their allies under the bus to protect themselves. Already, F-15 are being pulled out of the UK.
We need to pull ALL of our military bases out of Europe, we’re not in Europe, and our European ‘friends’ will just sit there and let us do all the hard work as usual anyway.
F15s ‘might’ be pulled not certain yet but if they are F35s are inbound!
Military bases in Europe? The only one that springs to mind is Sennelager (training and stowage)if you don’t count the Engineer SQN in Minden that provides our wet gap crossing abilities.
There’s also the alpine training centre in southern Germany, OP Cabrit in Estonia, and a light cavalry sqn in Poland.
Because F35As have replaced them.
If you think they’ll pull out of Croughton, Feltwell and Menwith I have a bridge for sale.
The UK have few bases left on the continent. Sennelager, Wulfen, Mumchengladbach, and Camp Viking in Norway.
Our most important bases in Europe are Gibraltar and the varied sites in the Cyprus SBAs, and we’d be idiots to lose those.
While I share some of your Euroscepticism, they remain friends and allies and we are all part of NATO.
Marky, As Daniele has said we have only a few bases in Continental Europe and they are relatively small – the ones in Germany scarcely have any serving military personnel.
Did you miss the point that we are a founding NATO member and so, since 1949, deter and defend in the Euro-Atlantic area. We don’t just defend ‘little old Blighty’.
A week is a long time in politics. Trump may have to calm down for the mid terms. Starmer may be gone by Christmas, if the wilder claims of the internet are even half true.
Interesting times, America probably quite rightly wants Europe to pull its weight. Even when the orange one goes some trust has been lost. Why would Europe want to buy American weaponry if can be made in Europe? But also the American reputation around the world must have taken a hit, yes the hardware maybe good but how stable are future White House incumbents.
So Europe including UK do not respect the agreement it did freely did but it is USA that is in wrong…and becaus it wants that agreement fullfiled is not to be trusted.
Please tell me for example what US did that leaves its Asian partners in doubt? as Japan, S. Korea continue to invest significantly in their armed forces and also did not build organisations that are made to hit US armed forces like ICJ.
Agreed. The US has implemented a system that was meant to keep a divide Europe dependent on them. They want their cake and eat it too: a compliant Europe that spends a lot of money on American weapons, but that the US doesn’t defend.
Remember Suez! Remember how J.F. Dulles, then American secretary of state catastrophically defaecated on Britain and France by threatening US retaliation on us if we proceeded to defend our rights against Nasser! This could happen again with Russia. If I were Europe i would give this US administration a wide berth and make Europe & Canada great again without the Americans. The Land of the Free may not be so free much longer.