Lockheed Martin gears up for laser wars

SNEAK PEEK

— Lockheed Martin is working on laser technology, a top executive told Josh.

— Dassault Aviation CEO Éric Trappier is troubled by the uncertainty of France’s political situation.

— European Parliament: Renew Europe’s Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann will lead the SEDE subcommittee and the EPP’s Borys Budka will head ITRE.

Good morning, and welcome to Morning Defense. On security and defense, “Germany is increasingly home alone, so it needs to be prepared,” write Ulrike Franke and Jana Puglierin from the European Council on Foreign Relations.

Tips to jbarigazzi@politico.eu , jposaner@politico.eu and lkayali@politico.eu and/or follow us at @jacopobarigazzi, @joshposaner and @LauKaya.

DRIVING THE DAY

DRONE DEVELOPMENTS LEADING TO LASER WAR: Defense departments are increasingly looking to lasers to stop swarms of drones that are costly to halt with conventional missile-based air defense, Michael Williamson, the president of Lockheed Martin International, told Josh at the Farnborough International Airshow.

Counting costs: “If you would ask anyone, the exchange ratio [the cost of a target that is shot down relative to the cost of the means of doing so] is not favorable right now because nations had invested in sophisticated means to meet sophisticated threats,” Williamson said.

Costly missiles, in other words, are being used to strike cheap targets like the swarms of unmanned aircraft now being launched in Ukraine.

In an extensive interview, Williamson, a former U.S. lieutenant general, said Lockheed is trying to ensure the “right mix” is used to counter unmanned threats. “We see tremendous interest [in these systems],” he said.

Big deal: As jets roar overhead in Farnborough, much of the attention in the pavilions is on protecting air space from drones.

In a first at the airshow, MBDA is presenting its new Sky Warden systems that can either jam a drone or smash it with a Mistral 3 missile at short range. Lockheed, meanwhile, has its Layered Laser Defense systems, while Raytheon said the British Army had successfully fired a laser at an aerial target for the first time. Those systems will be used by the army later this year.

Not so fast: While the Raytheon trial covers a kilometer, a relatively short distance, Williamson said it would be possible to project a laser beam 100 km in future to counter an aerial threat. “I haven’t built that yet, but we’re working on it,” he said.

Up to speed: Meanwhile, converting the extra dollars in defense spending we’re now seeing in NATO countries, into production capacity sufficient to meet demand, should be cleared within 24 months, Williamson said.

However, better forward planning and forecasting to predict long-term demand for everything from jets to air defense platforms is also needed, he said, to help the thousands of firms along the supply chain to gauge long-term potential for sales and respond accordingly.

AGENDA

FARNBOROUGH: The air show continues today. The U.K., U.S. and Australian defense departments are gathering to discuss AUKUS Pillar II, which brings industry together to come up with military technologies that can support the security pact.

These include capabilities like quantum tech for slicker submarine navigation, AI for sharper artillery targeting, and information-sharing to distribute classified data and IP between the three governments.

GERMANY/UK: The U.K.’s new Defense Secretary John Healey is in Berlin today for talks with his German counterpart Boris Pistorius at the Bendlerblock ministry complex. The two met at the recent NATO summit in Washington, but still have much to discuss during today’s three-hour visit. Healey previously told Josh that a bilateral security deal with the Germans would be a priority in his first six months.

Healey is on a European tour. On Tuesday evening he was in Paris for dinner with his French counterpart Sébastien Lecornu, where they talked about support for Ukraine, defense cooperation and the Middle East, according to a U.K. diplomat. He’ll head to Estonia next.

EU: The Parliament’s industry committee hears from the Commission on the European Defence Industry Programme regulation (EDIP).

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INDUSTRY

DASSAULT BOSS ‘WORRIED’ ABOUT FRENCH POLITICAL SITUATION: “We’re worried about this uncertainty,” Éric Trappier told reporters Tuesday, referring to the hung parliament and lack of government in France.

The contractor behind the country’s Rafale fighter jet — having announced record orders in the first half of 2024 — is protected because the Dassault family is ready to pour cash into the firm, but smaller companies relying on foreign investors might suffer from the political situation, he said. “Worry does not encourage spending.”

Thinly-veiled skepticism on FCAS: Phase 2 of the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) — a next-generation fighter jet jointly developed by France, Germany and Spain — is supposed to start in 2026, according to the calendar, but “it will depend on the politicians,” Trappier said. He told reporters that for the project to continue, the Bundestag would have to approve more cash and France would also need a government willing to do the same — hinting that’s a long shot.

“We’re a long way from an actual program,” he said. “We also have a lot of work to do on the Rafale, with the new standard, the combat drone. We’ve got a number of subjects running in parallel, so we’ll see what the states decide.”

FCAS vs GCAP: Asked about the rival fighter jet developed by Italy, the U.K. and Japan — the Global Combat Air Programme, which unveiled a new concept earlier this week in Farnborough — Trappier declined to comment. He said only (and perhaps with a soupçon of disdain): “This plane will not go on an aircraft carrier.”

BOOSTING STANDARDIZATION: Aiming to help build up Europe’s supply lines, defense industry associations from the U.K., France and Germany agreed in Farnborough to launch the Aero ExcellenceTM program to boost standardization.

Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury, speaking as president of the EU’s industry umbrella ASD, said the plan is to turn the system of technical norms into a global standard.

DEFENSE TOP JOBS

MASZ ELECTED: German liberal lawmaker Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann was elected chair of the Parliament’s Subcommittee on Security and Defence, despite EPP shenanigans. The issue of competences and whether to turn it into a full committee remains open. More from Jacopo here; find the whole list of chairs and vice chairs elected here.

THINKING BRETON OF IT? Now that Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has officially pledged to appoint a defense commissioner, France’s Thierry Breton — whose internal market portfolio included the defense industry — is in pole position, according to some diplomats and officials.

However, one diplomat said that no decision has been taken about portfolios in Paris, while another was very critical of the Breton option: “Member states wouldn’t like to see someone in the job with the reputation of prioritizing national interests.” Breton’s office declined to comment.

LATVIA

EU DEFENSE STRATEGY TO FILL GAPS: Latvia hasn’t yet had a national discussion on how to fund EU defense ambitions, but one thing is clear: Any EU defense strategy must be aimed at filling gaps, Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže told Jacopo. “We should make it clear both in NATO and the EU that initiatives such as the European Defence Industrial Strategy are welcome, but that they should be targeted at filling the capability gaps identified by our commanders with reference to concrete defense plans, primarily within NATO.”

Not to boost exports: EU plans should not aim to increase exports of weapons, she warned: “We cannot afford to prioritize European funding for the production of capabilities for sale in Asia or elsewhere. Instead, the priority must be ensuring that our forces have what they need, that they are interoperable and capable of deterring [threats] and defending our territory.”

She also warned that EU member countries continue to tolerate the widespread evasion of sanctions against Russia and Belarus, including on dual-use material.

Click here for the interview.

LATVIA APPROVES 12-YEAR ARMY DEVELOPMENT PLAN: The roadmap includes guidance for industry on areas of investment according to capability priorities; more reservists; and the development of military infrastructure.

**Join us for POLITICO's Competitive Europe Week on October 1-3 in Brussels. Engage with key policymakers and industry experts as they discuss Europe's economic security, industrial policy, and the transformative power of AI in shaping the continent's future competitiveness. Apply for your pass now!**

SPACE

‘WE’RE TALKING,’ LEONARDO SAYS: Leonardo’s space boss Franco Ongaro says Europe’s aerospace players are discussing what a satellite-producing major to take on Starlink might look like, but warns there’s no blueprint in place and clear hurdles remain ahead.

“All these companies are thinking about what would be the future,” Ongaro said on the sidelines of the Farnborough Air Show when asked if Thales and Airbus are onboard with a tie-up in the space sector.

“Our CEO has mentioned that Europe needs to have some larger champions,” Ongaro noted, referring to ex-Italian Ecological Transition Minister Robert Cingolani, who now runs Leonardo. “That being said, it’s not that easy to create larger champions in this environment. As of today, we’re talking together.”

We need IRIS²: The EU’s troubled IRIS² multi-orbit satellite constellation will be a “saving anchor” for the bloc’s space industry, Ongaro said. “This is a moment worldwide where geostationary [orbit] telecoms is not doing very well.”

His company isn’t in the SpaceRise consortium that wants to build and operate the constellation, but it does own a third of Thales Alenia Space and two-thirds of Telespazio. The latter has already announced it is one of the big ground station operators for IRIS², but is waiting on the official go-ahead.

“Being selected and seeing the project not started is not very nice,” Ongaro said.

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

SOUTH ENVOY APPOINTED: NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has made the appointment of Spanish diplomat Javier Colomina as Special Representative for the Southern Neighbourhood official. The choice has turned Italy against Stoltenberg, as we reported here.

FROM ARMED FORCES TO ROBOTICS: The former commander of Estonia’s defense forces, General Martin Herem, in August becomes military strategy advisor at local firm Milrem Robotics.

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