Reference News Network July 3 report: The Spanish newspaper "ABC" website published an article on June 29 with the title "Fighters and air defense systems are the priority for Europe's rearmament," written by Enrique Celvetto. The article is excerpted as follows:

The process of accelerating military rearmament has already begun. The European Council's latest decision requires the European Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy to develop a roadmap to enable all countries to modernize their military capabilities. The EU will provide part of the funding through a soft loan mechanism of up to 15 billion euros, and also expects governments to mobilize an additional 65 billion euros in funds. European countries will speed up the renewal of their armaments to build a defense system capable of deterring Russia.

Europeans' choices will determine where all this money goes. The EU institutions hope that this investment can also be used to develop their own military industry, but US President Trump has not hidden his ambition to sell American-made equipment - this is not only for economic reasons.

European leaders have identified the demand panorama based on the experience of the Ukraine conflict, which is being conducted based on elements that were insignificant decades ago. For example, developing autonomous air defense system technology. These systems must not only be able to deal with enemy aircraft, but more importantly, they must be able to deal with long-range missiles and drones.

To obtain funding from the European Commission, procurement must involve at least two EU countries or their closest allies (Norway, Iceland, or Switzerland), and even in this case, Ukraine may be considered as a destination for these procurements. However, in addition to this, at least 65% of the components must be produced in the EU, meaning that the purchased equipment can have at most 35% non-European components.

This requirement benefits both the development of the European economy and military technology, and encourages interoperability between weapons of different countries' armies. However, its drawback is that it does not take into account urgency, limiting the choice to existing products. The United States has the "Patriot" system, whose effectiveness has been proven in various scenarios and is used by multiple European countries. France and Italy developed the SAMP-T air defense system, while Germany and Poland are using the "Arrow"-3 missile defense system, while they wait for the development of the European Sky Shield Initiative, which will build a barrier along the entire eastern border of the EU.

European countries' arsenals are divided into two parts, one consisting of weapons of different calibers from the Soviet era, and the other consisting of weapons using Western technology. One of the few benefits brought about by the Ukraine conflict is that it has consumed the stocks of weapons, equipment, and ammunition stored in Eastern European countries' arsenals and left over from the Soviet era. Therefore, these countries are now almost starting from scratch, upgrading to fully NATO-compatible modern equipment, making them the most favored customers of the entire military industry on both sides of the Atlantic.

France is likely to be the country most strongly advocating that community funds should be limited to purchasing European equipment, because its industry has the capability to produce certain equipment, including the "Rafale" fighter jet, which has achieved some success in the international market, although the purchasing countries have to wait to receive the goods. However, those countries that are most eager to strengthen and modernize their military forces want to buy ready-made, guaranteed equipment.

In the aviation field, the "Eurofighter Typhoon" fighter jet jointly manufactured by Spain, Germany, Italy, and the UK, in addition to generating very important synergies within NATO, is likely to be one of the best planes in Europe and even the world. However, it is also one of the most expensive fighter jets, and due to the cross-veto power of the four manufacturing countries over potential buyers, its international marketing has been restricted.

Given this situation, several countries, including Germany, France, and Spain, have been working for years on the development of future combat aviation systems, which could become the standard for European countries, but even the production date has not been determined so far. Meanwhile, many governments have sent combat bombers to Ukraine in a state of war emergency, and given the current situation, they have decided not to wait any longer and have decided to purchase new US F-35 fighter jets with stealth capabilities.

Regardless, it is evident that despite the controversy surrounding the NATO target of spending 5% of GDP on defense, Europe is taking giant steps toward its rearmament path. (Translated by Han Chao)

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7522659496754201115/

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