WASHINGTON, European demand for U.S. weaponry is soaring, but instead of big items like jets and tanks, shopping lists are focused on cheaper, less-sophisticated items such as shoulder-fired missiles, artillery, and drones that have proven critical to Ukraine's war efforts.
Countries close to Russia like Poland, Finland, and Germany are striking deals to build U.S. weapons in Europe, negotiating new deals to buy arms, and looking to speed up existing contracts, according to interviews with military officials and industry executives.
Demand is centered around basic weapons and munitions: 155-millimeter artillery rounds, air defenses, communications equipment, shoulder-fired Javelin missiles, and drones, nearly a dozen European military attachés in Washington told Reuters in a series of recent interviews.
The focus on high-volume, less costly weapons underscores how the war in Ukraine has reshaped strategic thinking in European capitals about how future conflicts could be fought.
Visions of high-tech wars more reliant on computers and machines have been replaced by the reality of relentless artillery duels and soldiers dug into muddy trenches. The one-year-old war has seen both sides expend vast quantities of artillery shells and missiles.
Ukraine's high usage rates of "both precision and unguided munitions have shown NATO countries that any future war would require much higher stocks than anticipated," said Roman Schweizer, a defense policy analyst at investment bank Cowen & Co.
The attaches said their governments were particularly keen on buying Javelins after seeing the weapon's effectiveness in Ukraine. The missiles have proven deadly against Russian tanks.
Five European countries, meanwhile, have expressed interest in buying Raytheon Technologies' (RTX.N) precision-guided 155-millimeter artillery rounds, according to a company spokesperson, who declined to name them. The rounds are accurate to within 12 feet (4 meters) and have a range of 20 miles (32 km).
The interest from the five countries has not been previously reported. The company already sells to three other European nations.
Expressions of interest are the first step in a multi-step acquisition process that includes approval from the United States government and negotiations between the buyer and weapons contractor. It can be a year or more before a weapon is actually delivered.
Several of the military attachés, who declined to be named because they were not authorized to speak to the media on behalf of their governments, said their countries have been making sure payments to defense contractors have been on schedule, hoping to forestall any delays. The weapons purchases are now a domestic policy priority in their countries, they said.
U.S. arms makers have in the past complained about late customer payments on calls with investors.