Europe must act urgently on defence, ASD’s Jan Pie tells BBC
ASD Secretary General Jan Pie warns Europe must “start investing almost yesterday” to close defence gaps. BBC interview covers 5% GDP targets, ASD members' ramp-up, and long-term readiness.
In an interview with BBC’s World Business Report on 3 March, ASD Secretary General Jan Pie underscored the urgent need for Europe to bolster its defence capabilities in response to the evolving security environment. His remarks followed commitments by European leaders, including UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, to increase military support for Ukraine and ramp up defence spending.
Jan Pie emphasised the critical window for action: “The US is about to pull out, and Europe needs to take care of its own security environment.” Following decades of underinvestment, Europe “needs to invest massively and start almost yesterday – not today, but yesterday.”
On industrial capacity, he cited Rheinmetall’s artillery production as an example of progress: “In 2022, Rheinmetall produced 70,000 rounds of 155-millimeter artillery. They are about to reach 1.1 million in 2027 – a massive ramp-up.” He added: “The industry is ready to be challenged to its maximum production capacity. If orders are placed, you’ll see an impressive ramp-up already within the first year, and that will continue to grow over the years to come.”
When questioned on whether the industry is painting an overly bleak picture, Jan Pie said: “With the global drama today, there’s no need to paint a bleaker picture than reality already does. Europe has defence capacities we can deploy quickly if we move from policy discussions to actually placing the orders. I wouldn’t call for this equipment in the best-case scenario, but we must prepare.”
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