EU Defense Chief: European Defense Industry Should Produce Cheap, Mass-Produced Weapons, Abandoning 'Boutique' Mindset

Andrius Kubilius, the European Commissioner for Defense, has called on countries to open their weapon stockpiles to provide support to Ukraine and to change the past 'boutique' weapon production model in favor of a 'good enough' approach to increase production capacity. Kubilius, a former Lithuanian Prime Minister, warned the Financial Times that Europe is lagging behind Russia and Ukraine in missile manufacturing because European companies produce weapons that are too sophisticated, expensive, and difficult to scale. He said, 'Europeans are making what you might call haute couture weapons. The technology is very complex, very advanced, and expensive, but it is impossible to scale up quickly. Meanwhile, Ukrainians are producing what the European industry calls 'good enough' weapons.' Kubilius, who is responsible for strengthening the EU's defense industrial base, stated that Europe must learn from Ukraine's wartime production methods and shift to cheaper, mass-producible weapon systems. He also pointed out that Ukraine could use 60 billion euros from a recently approved 90 billion euro loan to purchase weapons from EU stockpiles, while suppliers could use the funds to reinvest in expanding production or replenishing stocks.