Armin Papperger, CEO of Rheinmetall, Europe’s largest munitions manufacturer, said EU leaders should consider building short-range air defence systems similar to Israel’s Iron Dome.
Short-range air defence is “something they want to create in Europe”, Papperger said, referring to this aspect of the Berlin-backed European Sky Shield initiative.
“I think it is also a good idea to have a European solution similar to Iron Dome and beyond,” Papperger told the Financial Times (FT).
Iron Dome has a range of up to 70 kilometres and has been used by Israel since 2011 to intercept short-range rockets. EU countries have invested in a range of air defence technologies, although analysts say it is unlikely that a similar system could protect much of continental Europe.
Another European defence executive said that Europe already has ‘all the capabilities to create all layers of air defence’.
In late 2022, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced the European Sky Shield initiative to create a European air and missile defence system through joint procurement of equipment.
Some 21 countries have signed up to the initiative. The initiative angered France because it did not include European-made air defence systems, including MBDA’s Franco-Italian SAMP/T. French officials described the initiative as ‘strategically confused and ill-conceived’.
In February, Rheinmetall announced that it had sold the Skyranger 30 short-range air defence system, which it says can be used against drones, to the German armed forces for €600 million.
Developing better integrated European air and missile defence systems is a priority for Brussels, which is pushing capitals to share technologies to fill gaps in the continent’s defence capabilities.
The EU’s defence strategy calls for the development of “integrated European air and missile defence capabilities” by 2035, and a new proposal unveiled by the European Commission this month calls for the bloc to provide budget support for “European defence projects of common interest”.
While integrated air and missile defence systems have been identified as one of the EU’s 22 defence capability priorities, Brussels wants member states to develop a ‘new generation of fully interoperable capabilities’ for air defence that will work with existing NATO systems.
The EU is also working on a new defence strategy that aims to increase joint procurement and for the first time sets targets for buying from producers in the bloc rather than the US.
Defence industry executives also called for greater cooperation and partnership between companies to reduce duplication and strengthen Europe’s industrial base in the long term.
Roberto Cingolani, chief executive of Rome-based aerospace and defence group Leonardo, told the FT: “Everybody is talking to everybody. “We are trying to discuss between companies to see what are the possible ways and more appropriate solutions to protect the future of European citizens,” Roberto Cingolani, chief executive of Rome-based aerospace and defence group Leonardo, told the FT.
