Research Overview

The disruption the Russo-Ukrainian War is having on the international defense system has also sped up changes in the global defense industry. The war, the most influencing event on global defense markets in the last 2 decades, has caught NATO members in the midst of strategic national security and military build-up planning processes, especially in the face of China's potential threat.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has catalyzed the EU to update its strategy urgently. Russian aggression is described by the Council of the EU in late February 2022 as "a tectonic change in the history of Europe,” from which a need arose to make a "quantum leap" in the development of military capabilities so as to act as an "assertive protective force,” recognizing the gap between military capability and the threat.

With vast global implications, war will directly affect the global defense market’s competitive landscape as well as the demands, needs, and long-term military build-up plans among NATO members. The increasing threat of Russian attribution is shifting European defense budgets and military posture. For the first time since WWII, Germany has allowed the export of offensive weapons and removed barriers for the procurement of armed UAVs.