Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius issued a stern warning to European companies in the sector. “I will conclude with a clear message, which I hope will be understood not only in this Chamber,” he said yesterday before the European Parliament’s Security and Defence Committee.
“Europe is investing significant resources in defence not to raise arms prices, not to lengthen delivery times, and not to increase industry profits. Europe invests in defence to defend peace. And this can only be achieved with sufficient production.” Production which, Kubilius warned, remains significantly behind Russian industrial output. “The biggest challenge is that Russia continues to produce more than us. Despite the fact that we are investing a lot. But our production volumes are growing too slowly.” Kubilius cited some figures: in 2025 Russia produced about 1,100 cruise missiles, compared to just 300 in the entire EU. Russian ballistic missile production stood at around 900 units, against zero in the EU. Russian factories churned out about four million artillery shells, double that of the Union. And Moscow produced 3,500 infantry fighting vehicles, seven times more than the EU.
KUBILIUS AGAINST THE HIGH FASHION OF THE DEFENCE INDUSTRY
“We do not want to shift to a war economy in Europe, but we must remember that the ‘production numbers’ are the first deterrent,” Kubilius told MEPs. “If we really want to deter Russia, we must produce more than Russia!” He pointed to Ukraine as a model, able to demonstrate “how to produce not only a ‘high fashion’ defence, technologically excellent, very expensive and difficult to scale, but also a much cheaper mass production, ‘good enough’.”
According to Kubilius, Kyiv is ready to produce about 700 “Flamingo” cruise missiles and is preparing to start producing its own ballistic missiles as well. Today, as part of his “European Missile Tour,” Kubilius will visit the French missile manufacturer MBDA’s site in Bourges, along with French Secretary of State for the Armed Forces and Veterans, Alice Rufo, and Secretary of State for European Affairs, Benjamin Haddad. They will then go to Montluçon to inspect a production site of the aerospace and defence group Safran. Both companies represent examples of “high fashion” defence, rather than simply “good enough,” to use Kubilius’s words.
