The State of Defence Manufacturing in Europe

Defence manufacturing in Europe is expanding but not always in the loud, headline-grabbing way people expect. Much of the growth is happening in procurement cycles, production lines, supply chain decisions, and capacity planning: more orders, more replenishment, more “can you deliver this faster?” conversations across the industrial base.

What’s driving it is a combination of rising defence budgets, NATO commitments, and the very real reality of rebuilding stockpiles while modernising equipment. And if there’s one consistent lesson in European defence right now, it’s this:

Defence doesn’t scale without manufacturing capacity, and manufacturing capacity doesn’t scale without subcontractors.