As EU seeks to cut defence dependency on US, how can it improve tank production?
The EU is trying to break its military dependency on the US amid pressure from the Trump administration, and buy more defence equipment in Europe.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/04/08/as-eu-seeks-to-cut-defence-dependency-on-us-how-can-it-improve-tank-production
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The EU is trying to break its military dependency on the US amid pressure from the Trump administration, and buy more defence equipment in Europe.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/04/08/as-eu-seeks-to-cut-defence-dependency-on-us-how-can-it-improve-tank-production
Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages
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NewsTranscript
00:00Europe is in a rearmament race. The United States is disengaging from the continent and
00:11Europeans depend on American military support for their defense. However, there's one area
00:17in which Europe has a degree of autonomy, tanks. Added together, the armies of the European
00:23Union have a total of 4,262 armored vehicles, slightly less than the 4,640 tanks in the
00:31USA. However, the situation varies greatly from one member country to another. Greece
00:37leads the way with 1,344 vehicles, followed by Poland and Romania. By comparison, Germany
00:45and France have 296 and 215 tanks respectively. While Athens stands out because of historical
00:53tensions with Turkey, Warsaw has beefed up its arsenal in response to the Russian threat.
00:59The case of armored vehicles reflects the problems facing the European defense industry.
01:28The market is highly fragmented, with several companies and several models, such as the
01:32French Leclerc tank and the German Leopard.
01:56Dozens of European models mean different training, different parts and therefore different
02:01maintenance. The question of standardizing equipment has been raised for many years.
02:08But behind this production lies issues of sovereignty, employment and economic activity
02:13that European capitals don't seem ready to give up.