ReArm Europe is an ambitious defence plan designed to protect the continent in a new age of geopolitical uncertainty. But it will require innovation and rapid industrial alignment to realise. So, how can OEMS and electronic manufacturers prepare to meet a new era of demand?
ReArm Europe - a dramatic shift in the continent's mindset
In a move signalling the most significant shift in European security policy in a generation, the European Commission has published a landmark white paper, ReArm Europe Plan/Readiness 2030.
The ambitious strategy aims to fundamentally overhaul the continent's fragmented defence landscape, committing to massive investment and industrial cooperation.
To put it simply, we must spend more, but the main thing is to spend better, which means spending on a European basis... We need to build a genuine single market for defence products.
Emmanuel Macron, President of France
What’s in the ReArm Europe white paper?
The "ReArm Europe" white paper, is a direct response to escalating geopolitical instability and a perceived over-reliance on the United States for security guarantees.
Trump’s luke-warm stance on maintaining the post-war security settlement in the West, and protecting Ukraine from Russia’s advances, is driving Europe into an intense period of defence investment.
The challenges ahead and the need for industrial alignment
The comprehensive plan outlines a framework to generate up to €800 billion in new defence spending over the next decade. Its core objective is to create a true single market for defence, encouraging member states to procure equipment jointly, thereby strengthening the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB).
But can it happen?
Of course, not everyone is optimistic that the EU will be able to work together to fund and collaborate effectively on a new era of defence. Different objectives and factions in different European governments may yet derail the strategy. However, a new dimension of international co-operation is giving the scheme fresh traction.
Canada becomes the new country on the bloc
In a new and surprising transatlantic development, the Canadian government has announced its formal intention to commit to the scheme, seeking to forge a new security and industrial axis with the bloc.
In the recent King’s Speech to the Canadian parliament - it's hopes to join with European countries was confirmed:
The Government will protect Canada’s sovereignty by rebuilding, rearming, and reinvesting in the Canadian Armed Forces. It will boost Canada’s defence industry by joining ReArm Europe, to invest in transatlantic security with Canada’s European partners.
Seven key areas of the ReArm Europe Plan
The EU's new defence framework is focused on closing critical gaps by prioritising defensive resilience, intelligence gathering, and logistical efficiency.
The seven key areas of action demonstrate these priorities and the potential challenges for OEMs and manufacturers as they respond to new demands:
- A protective shield: Creating a fully integrated air and missile defence system to protect European skies and critical infrastructure from all aerial threats, working in lockstep with allied command structures.
- Enhanced situational awareness: Using advanced unmanned systems (drones) primarily for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), coupled with robust counter-drone technology to defend sensitive sites.
- Digital and intelligence superiority: Investing heavily in cyber defence to protect critical networks, using AI to analyse threats, and ensuring the security of communications against electronic interference.
- Logistical efficiency (military mobility): Overhauling infrastructure and cutting red tape to allow for the rapid movement of defensive personnel and supplies across the EU, ensuring aid can reach any member state under threat without delay.
- Industrial resilience: Building up strategic stockpiles of essential defensive munitions and ensuring Europe's industrial base can sustain supplies during a prolonged crisis, guaranteeing self-sufficiency.
- Shared support infrastructure: Pooling resources for critical "enablers" like strategic airlift for humanitarian or defensive missions, enhanced maritime awareness to monitor shipping lanes, and secure border surveillance technology.
- Credible defensive response: Modernising artillery and long-range precision systems, not for aggression, but to provide a credible and accurate response capable of neutralising a direct threat from a safe distance.
Is the European manufacturing industry ready?
The headline figure of up to €800 billion in new spending is transformative and the proposed structures for joint procurement are set to change the industrial landscape for years to come.
We have 27 Member States, we have 27 armies, we have 27 ecosystems of industrial capacity. Each one too small on its own... We have to overcome this fragmentation through more cooperation, incentivising more joint procurement of defence capabilities and projects of common European interest.
Josep Borrell, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
Until now OEMs have navigated a fragmented defence market, leading to short production runs and unpredictable demand. Now, there are opportunities for substantial cross-border projects requiring co-ordination across all kinds of providers.
And nowhere is the need for frictionless collaboration more important than in the realm electronics.
Delivering advanced defence electronics
Innovators in this space need more than just ideas; they need partners who can help them design, prototype and manufacture complex electronic systems for the harsh realities of the defence environment.
Finding assembly partners with deep expertise in mechatronics, the control over secure microelectronic supply chains, and the processes to meet military-grade requirements is a difficult balancing act. The very nature of defence electronics - miniaturised, power-efficient, and ultra-reliable - demands a level of precision and control that is unique to the industry.
The value of value engineering in defence manufacturing
OEMs need help transforming complex integrated designs into physically resilient products that can withstand extreme temperatures, vibration, and moisture.
What’s more, they need to do it at speed and in ways that maximise value for their government buyers. The partners OEMs need to find will be skilled in DfM and value engineering to ensure they are able to maintain and improve quality while forensically removing waste from their processes.
Don’t forget, value analysis and engineering (VA/VE) first emerged as a manufacturing concept during the second world war. As defence procurement increases in challenging times, so does the pressure on resources. From the procurement of raw materials and components, to accessing skilled labour, the defence ndustry will need to embrace innovative solutions in their search for efficiencies.
Choosing end-to-end partners for defence mechatronic assembly
Choosing an EMS partner who can support end-to-end build requirements - from rugged printed circuit board to fully assembled and tested units - can help you optimise your end product, accelerate your route to deployment, and improve your ROI.
- Help with complex mechatronic prototyping for rugged devices.
- Access to secure global supply chains for critical microelectronic components.
- Access to facilities certified for high-reliability and defence-related manufacturing.
- Expertise in integrating diverse technologies like GPS, secure comms, and advanced sensors into a single unit.
- Specialist logistic operations for compliant and secure defence-related delivery.
- Access to a highly skilled workforce in precision mechatronics.
- Specialist support for ruggedising sensitive electronics to ensure mission-critical longevity and safety.
- Access to cutting-edge microelectronics such as advanced optical sensors.
A new era of European defence procurement will usher in a new era of manufacturing challenges and innovation. OEMS and EMS suppliers across the trading bloc (together with their trusted global partners) must now be ready to support a new industrial focus.
