UAFP Policy Brief: «How Ukraine can strengthen Europe’s defence and security»
Defence
The next decade will be critically dangerous for Europe. The EU risks losing its ability to deter Russia unless it undertakes rapid large-scale rearmament and deep industrial integration. This is the argument presented by Olha Khoroshylova, Coordinator of the Defence Industry sector at the Ukraine Facility Platform, in her analytical assessment of how Ukraine can strengthen the EU’s defence capability titled «Between a hammer and an anvil: How Ukraine can strengthen Europe’s defence and security».
Key findings:
👉 Russia is expanding its arms production at a pace Europe cannot currently match. Its military spending is already comparable to Europe’s combined expenditure – but used far more efficiently. In 2024 alone, Russia produced over 1,500 tanks, 5,000 armoured vehicles, and deployed new generations of loitering munitions and electronic warfare systems. Without radical changes in planning, financing, and standardisation, the EU risks being unable to restore capability parity by 2030.
👉 Ukraine offers Europe a unique opportunity to close this capability gap. Ukrainian manufacturers operate the fastest innovation and adaptation cycle in Europe across drones, autonomous systems, and EW, while Ukraine’s battlefield lessons learned shape a highly practical R&D approach. The rapid expansion of Ukraine’s defence industrial base demonstrates that the country is now not only a consumer, but a producer of critical capabilities for European security.
👉 To turn cooperation with Ukraine into a systemic advantage, Europe must overcome its internal fragmentation. The EU should shift from 27 separate procurement systems to joint planning; expand mechanisms such as SAFE and EDIP; promote multinational industrial partnerships; and open channels for technology transfer and joint production.
👉 Europe must also revise its approach to defence financing, export-support instruments, and private-capital mobilisation. Ukraine’s engineering talent, standardisation potential, and joint R&D programmes can significantly accelerate the innovation cycle Europe currently struggles with.
👉 Ukraine, in turn, must address internal barriers: modernise export control and technology-transfer rules, enable long-term defence contracting, set clear strategic procurement guidelines, and build horizontal coordination across its industrial ecosystem. The next step should include comprehensive G2G agreements, digitalised technological roadmaps, systematised battlefield lessons learned, and the formation of joint innovation programmes.
The full paper «Between a hammer and an anvil: How Ukraine can strengthen Europe’s defence and security» is available in both English and Ukrainian:
