Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury has said that Europe needs to focus its defense strategy given Russia’s threat, the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, and the potential of a second Trump presidency. This call comes as European countries continue to favor the Lockheed Martin
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Former President Donald Trump said in February that he would encourage Russia to “do whatever the hell they want” if Russia attacked a NATO country that Trump considered “delinquent” in contributing to the common defense.
Faury told the Guardian last week, “We had the first warnings with Trump 1. If Trump 2 is of the same nature or even more in terms of the U.S. expecting Europe to take care of itself … we’d better take it seriously.”
Faury warned Europe against splitting its defense capability resources, as it has previously, with three fighter jet programs competing for the same market: the Eurofighter, Sweden’s Gripen, and France’s Rafale.
In his interview with the Guardian, Faury noted that orders for Lockheed Martin’s fifth-generation F-35s, which have proven popular with NATO allies, exceed orders for the Airbus Eurofighter and Dassault Rafale combined.
Lockheed Martin F-35 Delays Impacting European Deployments
Lockheed Martin has delivered around 120 F-35s to six European countries and expects to place over 600 F-35s in ten European countries by 2030. Airbus has reported total orders for 544 Eurofighter jets in Europe, 486 of which have been delivered with 480 in operation.
NATO allies, including Finland, Switzerland, and Germany, have committed to Lockheed’s fifth-generation fighter.
“The F-35 stands out as one of NATO’s most effective integration tools since the end of the Cold War,” said Gen. James Hecker, U.S. Air Forces in Europe commander, in a Lockheed announcement this week on Red-Flag exercises taking place at Nellis Air Force base in which members of the Royal Netherlands Air Force are participating.
“With both U.S. and non-U.S. pilots flying the same cutting-edge aircraft, we gain a seamless exchange of tactical data over advanced datalinks. In the wake of Russia’s Ukraine invasion, U.S. and Dutch F-35s flew missions together in a single four-ship formation on the eastern flank.”
However, Lockheed faces delivery delays for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, pending approval of its Tech Refresh 3 processors and software. Lockheed President, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer Jim Taiclet said during an earnings call in January that the company will likely deliver from 75 to 110 F-35s this year instead of its previously planned 156. He also indicated that completing approval of the TR-3 program will likely be pushed to the third quarter of this year.
This delivery gap compromises the defense plans of Lockheed’s European customers. Some countries, including Belgium, Denmark, and Norway, are concerned over their ability to increase capacity and face training delays for pilots and maintenance engineers.
Airbus Believes Europe Needs A United, Sovereign Defense Strategy
Airbus believes Europe needs to develop a united defense strategy if it faces aggression alone.
“If you want to be sovereign; to be in control of your future, of what’s happening at the borders of Europe, Europe needs to be by far more independent; really being sovereign on its own defense procurement,” Faury told the Guardian. “We’ve put a lot in the hands of others. We are sub-critical on most of the different systems in Europe, we don’t collaborate enough to create investment at scale. We buy mostly from outside of Europe, and mostly from the U.S.”
I contacted Airbus to follow up on Faury’s comments. A spokesperson for Airbus Defense and Space answered my questions.
Regarding Faury’s comments about a “Trump 2” presidency, the spokesperson said, “It is the privilege of the American people to elect their President. Our job as an industry is to anticipate the best possible potential future scenarios affecting our business activities and to prepare for them—whatever they may be.”
As to whether Europe should improve its defense capabilities, regardless of what happens in U.S. politics, the spokesperson said:
“Europe has neglected defense for too long. The war in Ukraine has made everybody aware of the shortfalls that have resulted from years of underfunding and stagnating defense budgets. Our countries are lacking critical defense supplies and systems in order to sustain our sovereignty against potential aggressors. Europe is starting to shift gears to overcome its deficiencies in defense—and that’s good. We are concerned that the pace of doing so is too slow.”
The Airbus spokesperson also told me Europe must “act faster and with more determination” to collaborate on defense programs “to deter aggressors.”
“We see a worrying trend that our countries are acting fast and in an uncoordinated manner to overcome deficiencies, which favors non-European off-the-shelf acquisitions,” the defense spokesperson said. “At first glance, these may be quick and effective solutions, but they will, from a strategic and long-term point of view, only increase our dependency on others. Instead, Europe should seek solutions that also enhance its own strength, industrial base, and, ultimately, technological capabilities.”
As to whether Europe has a sufficient sense of urgency and whether policy favors funding more European defense programs, the Airbus spokesperson replied:
“Europe is starting to shift gears, and it’s high time to do so. It’s going to be important to set our priorities right. That means putting European technology and industrial capabilities at the core of such activities. Only if we have a strong defense industrial base will Europe be able to safeguard its sovereignty.”
Airbus also believes that Europe has sufficient capabilities to quickly bolster its defense without relying on foreign support.
“Europe and its associated industry have absolutely all it takes to support a rapid ramp-up,” the Airbus spokesperson said. “Obviously, what we need is planning certainty, in other words: contracts, based on which we can prepare and execute the ramp-up.”
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