Europe is rushing to boost its air defense systems, and it’s turning to the United States to do it.
The war in Ukraine has escalated geopolitical tensions in the region and fears that a broader conflict could be around the corner at any point. With Russia frequently deploying a “mass attack” strategy, sometimes sending more than 200 airborne attacks at once, many countries are looking to shield their skies.
“Over the past decade, there has been an increase in the proliferation and use of ballistic and cruise missiles,” Andrew Metrick, a former fellow at the Center for a New American Security, wrote earlier this year, citing the war in Ukraine, conflict in the Red Sea and continuous threats from North Korea.
Last week, Switzerland signed on to the European Sky Shield Initiative, an air and missile defense system to cover most of Europe, and Austria isn’t far behind. With Switzerland, 19 countries are part of the Sky Shield initiative, including the United Kingdom, Germany, the Nordic and Baltic countries, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria.
American companies like Raytheon have cheered the move, as ESSI leans heavily on platforms developed and manufactured in the United States. The Patriot is featured as the main system for nearly all of them.
Switzerland has also contracted for $1.2 billion worth of Raytheon’s Patriot missile systems.
Swiss Armament Chief Urs Loher signed the declaration to join the ESSI agreement on Friday.
Joe DeAntona, vice president of Land & Air Defense Systems at Raytheon, said he sees the change happening quickly.
“Air and missile defense, for a lot of nations, was really designed exclusively to protect the armies and the militaries that we’re fighting,” DeAntona said. “It has absolutely transitioned into homeland defense.”
The war in Ukraine and growing conflict in the Middle East are spurring this shift. Over the last decade, many European countries, now signing on to the ESSI, had let their air defense systems go without updates.
“They didn’t modernize it,” DeAntona said. “So there’s a modernization effort going on there. At the same time, they’ve also recognized that because of mass [attack], they don’t have enough.”
Raytheon’s Patriot missile system has quickly become the backbone for defense in Kyiv, serving as a useful battlefield demonstration as more European countries adopt protection against similar threats.
As a cornerstone of aid packages sent to Ukraine, air defense is being discussed at the highest levels. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday and announced $400 million in additional military support. In a post on X after the meeting, Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s air defense capabilities and increasing American production of those systems were among the main talking points.
According to Zelenskyy, not only has the Patriot system become indispensable to protecting Kyiv, but it is also central to his “Victory Plan.”
But even as Ukraine receives more Patriot ammunition and asks for more of these systems, European neighbors far to their west are grappling with the specter it creates. Russia is stockpiling missiles for attacks on Ukraine during the winter. Many of those same missile sites can reach farther than just across the border into Ukraine. The old Cold War tension of long-range attacks is quickly becoming relevant.
“The U.S. doesn’t necessarily deploy Patriot to protect its homeland, but those other 18 nations are absolutely doing that now,” DeAntona told NOTUS.
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John T. Seward is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.