Copies at the ready: how Europe will replace American weapons for Ukraine
Germany has run out of Soviet T-72 tanks. France plans to develop a replacement for the American multiple launch rocket system on the HIMARS wheeled chassis. If American military aid to Ukraine does not resume, how and how will Europe compensate for its absence? Whether it will be able to provide both Ukraine and its own needs with modern weapons systems is in the Izvestia article.
Does the EU have analogues of missile systems from the USA
After the United States announced the suspension of military assistance to Ukraine, the situation may become critical for its supply. In particular, because Europe is not able to quickly replace all American weapons systems with its own.
On April 10, 2025, information appeared about France's plans to develop a replacement for the American HIMARS and MLRS missile systems. The French army is already armed with rather outdated Lance-roquettes unitaire (LRU) complexes, which are a complete analogue of the locally produced American M270 MLRS complex. The problem for the French is that in the event of a cessation of American supplies, these complexes will require the development and creation of their own missiles for them, as well as updating the electronic stuffing. These works have begun, but it is still expected that prototype tests may begin only in 2026.
There are no other complete analogues of the HIMARS MLRS in Europe, only hybrid installations. In particular, starting in 2023, Poland began to receive the HOMAR-K multiple launch rocket system, which consists of the Polish Jelcz chassis and the South Korean K239 launcher, similar in ideology to HIMARS — in fact, it is a slightly more modern analogue with twice as much ammunition.
Some of the components will still be manufactured in South Korea, but 239 mm rockets are planned to be produced under license in Poland. This means that the latter could supply similar weapons systems to Ukraine. But, apparently, Poland has no plans to share such installations or modern tanks, which it is also actively purchasing. So Kiev, if necessary, will have to buy new missile systems either in South Korea or somewhere else. There is nothing ready in Europe.
Are there many tanks left in Europe
The situation with tanks is both more complicated and more interesting — at least there are tanks in Europe. But she does not want to transfer modern ones to Ukraine, and she has run out of old ones. All European defense departments note the depletion of stocks.
Germany no longer has Leopard 1 tanks — all have been repaired and delivered to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The Czech Republic has run out of Soviet and its own T-72M1s. Other Eastern European countries have also run out of old tanks of their own and Soviet production. At the same time, there are almost 2,000 new Leopard 2 tanks in Europe, along with Canada and without Turkey. Turkey alone has more than 300 tanks. But Europe, in principle, does not plan to share its tanks with Ukraine and is not even discussing the tank issue right now. In principle, this is to be expected — Europe has focused on talking about military assistance, but not at the expense of its own resources.
The situation with armored vehicles is similar. Even OSINT researchers are beginning to notice that voids are forming in the storage bases of old armored vehicles in Europe. In this sense, Ukraine has acted as a very good utilizer of old equipment, and today there are no more German Marder infantry fighting vehicles and many other types of historical vehicles in storage bases. Everything went to Ukraine.
Is Europe capable of providing the Armed Forces of Ukraine with weapons
In such a situation, what will Europe do for itself and "for that guy"? First, it plans to restart its own defense industry. However, it is unclear how, for example, respectable burghers in Germany are motivated to make more shells. Our only hope is for international programs and the release of licensed equipment. For example, AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles are produced in Europe under American licenses.
The Finnish company Patria has launched a licensed production of Rosomak armored personnel carriers in Poland and most likely considers Ukraine as one of the potential buyers, and in the future, a manufacturer. In addition to Rosomak, the Finns have also developed their own analogue of the legendary Soviet MT-LB transporter.
The new machine was shown at the Patria Arctic Event 2025, and it was created as part of the European future highly mobile augmented armored systems (FAMOUS) program. That's what the new BTR — FAMOUS is called so far. It was created by international efforts and is designed to occupy a niche between the American M113 armored personnel carrier and other heavier vehicles. Ukraine, as well as Scandinavian and other European NATO countries, will potentially be consumers of the new APC.
Thus, it turns out that in some areas Europe can do something instead of American military equipment. It would be naive to believe that the military-industrial complex of the Old World has completely atrophied and is not capable of anything. But in aviation and missile technology, the EU has been counting on America for a long time and firmly, and here it will have to seriously catch up.
Today, Europe has neither its own modern light combat fighter, nor an adequate and massive replacement for American ATACMS-type missiles. But we should expect that in a few years the EU will either create such weapons systems or find a common language with America. In the meantime, there will be some way out of the situation. Perhaps it will switch to the purchase of Asian military equipment — this is the path chosen, for example, by Poland. South Korea will be happy to produce tanks, self-propelled guns, rocket launchers, fighter jets, and even submarines for the "old Europe."
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