The $500B Opportunity in Europe’s Defense Buildout

<p>Europe is preparing to mobilize up to €800B in additional defense spending. But money alone doesn&#39;t solve one of its biggest problems.</p><p>After decades of underinvestment, Europe&#39;s defense industry needs to dramatically increase its ability to manufacture at scale. Component lead times can stretch into years, certain contracts can take 4–5 years to deliver and modern warfare increasingly requires systems produced in the tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands or even millions. As Aistis Šimaitis puts it, “Volume wins.”</p><p>I sat down in Monaco with Aistis, Co-Founder &amp; CEO of Onodrim and former head of Palantir&#39;s commercial business in Europe, George Hadjiminas, Chief Strategy Officer at Theon International &amp; EFA Group, and Bruno Wejchert, Partner at Strike Capital.</p><p>We get into</p><p>› How Ukraine exposed the gaps in Europe&#39;s defense industrial base</p><p>› Why manufacturing and volume matter as much as new technology</p><p>› Why autonomous warfare requires dramatically cheaper components at massive scale</p><p>› Why George believes “prototypes don&#39;t fight wars”</p><p>› Bruno&#39;s prediction that Europe could produce a $500B defense company within the next decade</p><p>The conversation covers everything from autonomous systems and defense procurement to the lessons Aistis took from Palantir and why George believes “prototypes don&#39;t fight wars.” As billions flow into European defense, the question is increasingly not just who can build the best technology, but who can actually manufacture and deliver it at scale.</p><p>Recorded at the Strike x Sourcery Summit in the South of France.</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Aistis Šimaitis: </strong><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/aistissimaitis/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://www.linkedin.com/in/aistissimaitis</a></p><p><strong>George Hadjiminas: </strong><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgioshadjiminas/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgioshadjiminas</a></p><p><strong>Bruno Wejchert : </strong><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/bruno-jan-wejchert-00b46a1a6/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://www.linkedin.com/in/bruno-jan-wejchert-00b46a1a6</a></p><p><strong>Molly O’Shea:</strong> <a href="https://x.com/MollySOShea" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://x.com/MollySOShea</a> </p><p><strong>Sourcery:</strong> ⁠<a href="https://x.com/sourceryy" target="_blank"