Netherlands to invest €1.1 billion in the domestic defense industry
The Netherlands is investing €1.1 billion in the domestic defense industry as part of a new defense strategy due to distrust of the United States and its potential involvement in European defense.
As part of the creation of the new defense document, much attention was paid to financing the defense industry, which, as noted in the document, is crucial in the event of war.
“An important factor on the battlefield is who can produce the most, innovate the fastest and sustain them the longest. In this, it is important to be stronger than our rivals,” the document says.
Therefore, for future orders and contracts, priority will be given to European and Dutch manufacturers, with the possible localization of production of certain types of equipment in the country.
At the same time, the companies involved in the production and development of weapons and other innovative systems will be able to receive certain investments to create the basis for implementing their own production plans or to get out of a financially difficult situation.
Also, one of the priorities in expanding the defense industry will be government assistance in increasing production capacity.
“When demand is growing rapidly, companies in the defense industry often want to expand, but hesitate because it costs a lot of money to set up an additional production line. This is only beneficial if the company is confident that the additional defense equipment produced will be purchased within a few years,” RTL writes.
In addition to financial support, the Netherlands will enter into long-term contracts to ensure long-term support for companies. An example is the 20-year contract between the Belgian Ministry of Defence and FN Browning for the maintenance of firearms.
A separate clause of the document also provides for support for Ukraine and the transfer of certain types of weapons to analyze their effectiveness in combat conditions and further improve them based on experience at the front.
Earlier, Militarnyi reported that the governments of the Netherlands and Sweden have agreed to produce CV90 combat vehicles in the Netherlands, which will involve a large number of local companies.
It is expected that the total number of partially manufactured vehicles in the Netherlands will amount to 180 units.
