Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Osburn | From right to left: Heidi Grant, president and CEO of Heidi Grant Global, Patrick...... read more read more
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WIESBADEN, Germany —
As competition between global powers intensifies, NATO and its partners are rethinking how they produce, deliver and sustain military power. That means shifting from traditional individualized arms development and procurement sales to a more collaborative model of co-production, shared development and manufacturing of weapons, munitions and systems among trusted allies.
At LANDEURO’s second day, the panel “Updating the Arsenal of Democracy: Co-Production With Allies” brought together acquisition leaders and defense officials to discuss how industrial partnerships can build lasting deterrence.
The conversation referenced the World War II-era phrase coined by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the “Arsenal of Democracy”, but made clear that the tools and timelines of industrial warfare have changed. Today, that arsenal must be multinational, fast-moving, and digitally integrated.
“We have to develop that capability as fast as humanly possible,” said Gen. Christopher Donahue, U.S. Army Europe and Africa commander, during his opening remarks on Day 1. “We would like the defense industrial base of all 32 [NATO] nations plus South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand to get broader and have more capability.”
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From Burden Sharing to Capability Scaling:
Moderator Heidi Grant, former director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, opened the panel by noting that co-production means different things to different people, ranging from shared assembly to full co-development of platforms.
But across the panel, a common theme emerged: speed and scalability are essential in building modern deterrence.
Patrick Mason, the Acting Principal Deputy to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology, said the fragility of supply chains over the past five to ten years, especially since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, has forced a reckoning.
The surge in demand for munitions and platforms has outpaced the capacity of individual nations, underscoring the need for greater coordination and shared investment. Scaling production through isolated national efforts is increasingly seen as unsustainable.
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A Strategic Need, Not Just a Business Model:
Sweden’s Eva Hagwall, deputy director general of the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration, emphasized that industrial capacity is no longer just an economic asset, it is a strategic military capability.
To meet rising global demand, governments must deepen trust with industry, broaden the base to include small- and medium-sized firms, and improve transparency in requirements.
“Production capacity is military capability. It is essential,” Hagwall said. She emphasized that meeting growing defense needs will require closer collaboration between governments and industry.
Hagwall emphasized that shortening the feedback loop between governments and suppliers is critical. Lengthy procurement processes and national-level customization have slowed integration, even among allies. To accelerate progress, she said, nations must reduce individual requirements.
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Data, Not Just Metal:
Retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Kirk Smith, now a consultant with Pentacle Global, argued that today’s battlefield depends as much on data and digital integration as on armor or artillery.
“‘Heavy metal’ doesn’t do anything without the right data,” he said, stressing that the next fight will demand seamless interoperability, not just compatible munitions. Understanding how allies define capability, and where they accept risk, must be part of any co-production effort, he added.
Smith pointed to lessons from Africa and the Indo-Pacific, where differing threat landscapes require customized approaches. Each global combatant command knows what it needs, but industry must be brought into that conversation sooner, he suggested.
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Aligning Demand Signals and Sharing Risk:
A recurring concern was how to clearly communicate the “demand signal” to industry. With countries pursuing similar capabilities, companies can often receive conflicting or diluted messages.
Mason said NATO’s standardization efforts help provide a shared reference, but the alignment between governments, timelines, and budgets remains a challenge. He urged governments to co-invest and issue licensing arrangements for assembly abroad, particularly for critical systems.
Grant asked whether industry is getting the information it needs in time to respond. Panelists acknowledged the system still suffers from delays and missed signals.
“We have to ‘de-learn the bureaucracy,’” Mason said, calling for more agile policies and leaner contracting models. “Fast, cheap, good... you can only pick two,” Smith added, pointing to the enduring tension between speed, cost, and quality.
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Building a Global Industrial Alliance:
The panel ended with a call to action: to match the strength of NATO’s military alliance with an equally robust industrial alliance. Innovation, panelists said, must be applied not just to technologies, but to business models, procurement strategies, and cross-border collaboration.
The goal is not simply to supply one war, but to build a sustained, flexible production network capable of supporting any contingency; from Europe to the Indo-Pacific.
“We take the strength of each one of our industry partners globally and bring that together just like the strength of our military alliance,” Grant said.
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| Date Taken: | 07.17.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 07.18.2025 05:36 |
| Story ID: | 543164 |
| Location: | WIESBADEN, DE |
| Web Views: | 15 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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