Europe Boosts Military Spending --- NATO members say they are rebuilding arms industries, to benefit of U.S. firms

"BRUSSELS -- With a conflict raging nearby and the threat that a second Trump administration could pull the U.S. out of NATO, Europe has ratcheted up military spending. Arms manufacturers are working around the clock, and new factories are going up to meet demand.

But Europe has a long way to go -- and tough choices to make -- if it aims to reduce its dependence on U.S. military support and face down Russia.

Although Donald Trump hasn't secured the Republican presidential nomination, he has reshaped U.S. debate over international-security alliances. The shift is evident in his campaign speeches blasting European members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, in House Republicans' blockage of military aid to Ukraine and Israel, and in critical comments from more Republican politicians.

Acrimony in the U.S. over its stance toward Ukraine, Europe and NATO contrasts with spreading conviction in Europe that a more muscular defense posture is vital. The shift predates Trump's recent attacks.

This year, for the first time in decades, European NATO members together will spend 2% of their combined gross domestic product on their militaries, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday. The $380 billion spending total masks wide variation, he cautioned, with some countries above or below the threshold that they agreed in 2014 to reach this year.

"So we are making real progress," Stoltenberg said before NATO defense ministers gathered for a regular meeting at alliance headquarters. "European allies are spending more."

The spending might not be enough to sway U.S. critics who say it is too little, too late, and is coming after decades of low investment that enfeebled Europe's militaries. 

But the target of European spending might figure into the debate: Nearly two-thirds of the money European governments have pledged for military gear since the start of events in Ukraine two years ago is directed at U.S. contractors, according to French think tank IRIS.

Europeans and some U.S. politicians are making the point increasingly loudly that the continent's rearming benefits American producers. U.S. F-35 jet fighters, Himars rocket launchers and Patriot missile-defense systems are in strong demand from European governments -- much to the consternation of European arms contractors and some officeholders.

For years, U.S. administrations have pressed European NATO allies to boost spending. Former President Barack Obama's defense secretary, Robert Gates, warned in a 2011 speech in Brussels of "the real possibility for a dim, if not dismal future for the trans-Atlantic alliance."

Trump later increased U.S. pressure, saying at a NATO meeting in 2018 that if Europeans didn't increase spending, "I'll do my own thing" -- which was widely interpreted as pulling the U.S. from NATO. Some former advisers have said he discussed such a move with them.

In recent campaign speeches, Trump has claimed credit for Europe's spending increases and said if he were re-elected he wouldn't protect allies that don't meet budgeting promises. Instead, he said, he would encourage Russia "to do whatever the hell they want."

President Biden, Stoltenberg and many European leaders attacked Trump's threat as contrary to U.S. interests and endangering U.S. and allied troops. The Biden administration has pressed Europeans to spend more on defense.

Trump's campaign broadsides come as talk of spending more on defense in Europe has lost a taboo status that it had for years after the end of the Cold War. Driven by Trump's threats, Europeans are slowly taking action and planning more.

European production of artillery shells and other weaponry vital to Ukraine's fight has risen 40% since Ukraine events, with some factories working nonstop. Output still doesn't meet Ukrainian needs but officials are pressing to narrow the gap.

NATO's procurement agency last month agreed to support Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and Romania in a deal to buy up to 1,000 Patriot missiles, valued at roughly $5.6 billion, to be manufactured at a new European plant being built by American arms contractor RTX and European missile-maker MBDA.

The European Union commissioner for internal markets, Thierry Breton, attended a regular meeting Tuesday of NATO ambassadors to discuss coordination on defense production and procurement between the two international organizations, which have more than 20 members in common. NATO defense ministers planned to address the issue Thursday.

Sustaining Europe's spending increases will be difficult and might come at the expense of spending on welfare, healthcare and pensions. 

A big part of the recent bump in outlays also has been for acquisitions of equipment bound for Ukraine or to replace gear taken from armories. That demand is unlikely to continue for years, while a more fundamental rebuilding of European militaries is required and will be expensive, defense officials say.

Europe also needs to spend its money more effectively to achieve greater benefit from its scale, officials and analysts say. European armed forces struggle to cooperate on planning and deployments.

Planners have long tried unsuccessfully to reduce nationalism and competition among arms producers that causes duplication, waste and shortfalls in output of some vital equipment. The European-made NH-90 military helicopter, once touted as a model cross-continental project, ended up with more different variants than customer-countries, undermining uniformity. NATO members, 28 of which are in Europe, produce 14 different versions of the NATO-standard 155-millimeter artillery shell, according to Adm. Rob Bauer, NATO's highest military official.

"We need to bolster cooperation among member states," said Camille Grand, former NATO assistant secretary-general for defense investment, now at the European Council on Foreign Relations." [1]

Backlash to these actions is already coming. The most popular German politicians are asking, why we are not seeking peace like Willy Brandt did.

1. World News: Europe Boosts Military Spending --- NATO members say they are rebuilding arms industries, to benefit of U.S. firms. Michaels, Daniel.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 15 Feb 2024: A.7.