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The EU and Britain outspend Russia on defence – but clunky procurement, high prices and limited production mean Europe is still years away from countering the threat, two prominent think tanks find.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/37205471

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[…]

Researchers from the Brussels-based Bruegel think tank and the Kiel Institute for the World Economy sought to assess when the European Union and the United Kingdom might be prepared to respond to potential Russian aggression by 2030. Multiple Western intelligence reports suggest that Russia might test Europe’s resolve even earlier.

The think tanks previously concluded in September that it would take the bloc several decades to adequately prepare – and in their latest update, released on Thursday, the researchers found that “the situation today is even more concerning”.

That is partly due to a much-weakened US commitment to European security, following Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

But the researchers also found that Russian industry continues to significantly outproduce European factories, despite substantial increases in investment. Military procurement across the EU remains slow, bureaucratic, and focused on relatively expensive weapons systems.

Russia’s military spending reached €130 billion in 2024, or 7.1% of its GDP. While combined EU and UK expenditures exceed that figure, the study found that Russia’s military purchasing power remains comparable.

To deter – or, if necessary, fight – Russia without relying on US support, European production of various weapon systems “must increase by a factor of around five”, the report states. Air defence systems, in particular, would need to multiply even more to match Russian capabilities.

“Europe thus remains highly vulnerable and dependent on the US,” the report states.

The researchers conducted a detailed analysis of military procurement data from Germany, Poland, the UK, and France to understand broader European trends. They found that production still lags, and the volume of military hardware being acquired “remain low compared to Cold War periods or Russian numbers.”

[…]

The EU’s €800 billion ReArm Europe plan, for instance, “will be too small, if equipment is bought at current high prices,” the authors caution.

  • Zombie@feddit.uk
    7 1·
    5 months ago

    It’s almost as if Russia is in the midst of a full scale war with conscription and economic sanctions imposed, requiring in-house manufacture of military equipment. Who would have thought that would mean the Russian war machine would be running hotter than the EUs?

    It’s almost as if these people want us to go to war.

    • haui@lemmy.giftedmc.comM
      4 1·
      5 months ago

      Exactly. And OP is one of their propagandists from the looks of it. Please look at the post history and report if you see a pattern.

    • Hotznplotzn@lemmy.sdf.orgOP English
      2 1·
      5 months ago

      Russia is increasingly dependent on military cooperation with several (non-Western) countries, above all with China. This is not in-house.

  • haui@lemmy.giftedmc.comM
    5 2·
    5 months ago

    The mere idea gives me headache. We all know that the west does not need russia to test anything.

    As our proxy, israel has just proven, we can just bomb them and claim the right for self defence afterwards.

    Other sources say that european nato states have more personnel, WAY more vehicles and WAY more air vehicles than russia has.

    Since the west is engaging in perverse warmongering with obvious lies, I dont have high hopes that this is more than propaganda. Especially from a german based institute where the media and government propagate a directly opposed picture from the actual population.

    This is called manufactured consent, btw.

      • haui@lemmy.giftedmc.comM
        3 2·
        5 months ago

        4 months and over a hundred posts, recent ones all pro war.

        I think we both know who is doing propaganda work here.

          • haui@lemmy.giftedmc.comM
            3 2·
            5 months ago

            Dont worry. You wont post a lot longer on communities that actually have moderation.

            Tell fritze my regards.

            • diplodocus@lemmy.sdf.org English
              2·
              5 months ago

              Likely they will continue to post, under a new alt: https://lemmy.sdf.org/comment/20378001

              If you’re going to engage with OP, you may want to know that, for the last two years, they have been posting imperial core propaganda (and especially anti-China propaganda) as if it were their job. They’ve used various user accounts and tend to target the same few communities daily.

            • randomname@scribe.disroot.org English
              2·
              5 months ago

              @haui_lemmy@lemmy.giftedmc.com

              I am not involved in this so far, but what does your statement mean? I’m just asking because it is somewhat irritating how many admins and moderators here on Lemmy support autocratic regimes by downplaying and sometimes even denying their crimes.

              • haui@lemmy.giftedmc.comM
                3·
                5 months ago

                I can relate to the urge to do the imperialist regimes bidding by canceling anyone who goes against the capitalist empires doctrine. I’ve been there for most of my life.

                It is impossible to convince someone you have no personal connection with, to question the narrative they have believed all their lives.

                For that reason, suffice it to day:

                • Attacking other countries for whatever reason is despicable in my opinion (russia/israel atm)
                • Picturing other countries citizens as homogenic mass and blanket calling them “orcs” is deeply racist no matter their deeds
                • posting dozens if not hundreds of one sided articles advertising war efforts while millions of people worldwide demonstrare against these efforts is condemnable without taking sides
                • these mass posts point to concerted efforts to make the public believe a certain narrative. It has been done in irak and recently in palestine
                • pointing at a chinese translation of a book to discredit a term is deeply racist as well, no matter your stance on china
                • randomname@scribe.disroot.org English
                  2 3·
                  5 months ago

                  I am not surprised by your stance as something like this is widespread on Lemmy (which may also contribute to the fact that the Lemmyverse is still quite small imo, as not many people are willing to read this propaganda all the day long). What I still find irritating is that this comes from a moderator.