European Defense Stocks Soar Amid New Military Spending Wave

Charles R. Goulding and Preeti Sulibhavi visit Europe’s US$840 billion “ReArm Europe” plan and how it is driving defense contractor growth and reshaping regional military investment strategies.

Amid re-armament talks and the US$840 billion “ReArm Europe” plan, European defense contractor stocks are soaring.

Thales’ CEO, Patrice Caine has stated that Europe should “take its destiny in its own hands,” and strive to keep new defense budgets within the region, essentially advocating for bolstering defense spending increases to ensure regional stability and security.

In fact, Germany is experiencing a historic paradigm shift where there was a huge deal inacted to fund military and infrastructure investments. German borrowing surged as news of this broke, the most in 28 years, with both the speed and magnitude at which this deal was struck being unprecedented in Germany’s post-war history.

There is a core discussion that a portion of the new European defense funding will be limited to European defense contractors only. The ongoing war in Ukraine, coupled with rising geopolitical tensions globally, has led to a substantial increase in defense spending by governments, particularly in NATO countries. The conflict has underscored the importance of military readiness and the need to replenish and modernize weapon stockpiles. As a result, defense contractors are witnessing a surge in orders for everything from advanced fighter jets and missiles to tanks and ammunition.

Here is just a sample of some of the European defense contractors we have covered previously on Fabbaloo.

	European Defense Contractor	Articles Published on Fabbaloo
	Rheinmetall AG	Rheinmetall Quickly Becomes a Defense Powerhouse
	BAE Systems	Brexit, BAE Systems, Renishaw and 3D Printing
	Airbus SE	Embraer’s Ascent: A Rising Contender Amid Boeing & Airbus Woes Breaking the Duopoly: How COMAC is Using 3D Printing to Challenge Boeing & Airbus Soaring Through Supply Chain Woes: Airbus’s 3D Printing Revolution
	Thales Group	3D Printing Aerospace Parts with Blockchain
	Thyssenkrupp	Thyssenkrupp’s Restructuring Leading to Shift and Growth of 3D Printing
RENISHAW	Renishaw	Innovation in Motion: Renishaw’s Role in the Future of Additive Manufacturing
	Leonardo	Aidro’s Digital Lab Supplies 3D Printed Parts to Leonardo Helicopters
	Rolls-Royce Holdings	Collaboration and Innovation: 3D Printing’s Impact on European Defense
HENSOLDT	HENSOLDT	3D Printing Revolution in Defense: Enhancing Weaponry in Two Global Conflicts
	MBDA	Forging the Future of Defense: MBDA’s Multi-Country Approach and 3D Printing Prowess
TRUMPF	TRUMPF	Trumpf: The Hidden Giant of Advanced Manufacturing

Table: Top European Defense Contractors Covered on Fabbaloo [Source: Fabbaloo]

The Aerospace and defense industry is known for heavily utilizing 3D printing and additive manufacturing. Amid the recent European defense spending pledge, the 3D printing industry should take note and take action. This is an opportunity for the 3D printing industry to expand and be relevant at a time when the world needs it most.

The Research & Development Tax Credit

The now permanent Research and Development (R&D) Tax Credit is available for companies developing new or improved products, processes and/or software.

3D printing can help boost a company’s R&D Tax Credits. Wages for technical employees creating, testing and revising 3D printed prototypes are typically eligible expenses toward the R&D Tax Credit. Similarly, when used as a method of improving a process, time spent integrating 3D printing hardware and software can also be an eligible R&D expense. Lastly, when used for modeling and preproduction, the costs of filaments consumed during the development process may also be recovered.

Whether it is used for creating and testing prototypes or for final production, 3D printing is a great indicator that R&D Credit-eligible activities are taking place. Companies implementing this technology at any point should consider taking advantage of R&D Tax Credits.

Conclusion

We have covered almost all the European defense contractors relevant to recent spending pledges for defense on Fabbaloo. The 3D printing industry has an unprecedented opportunity here and should get engaged with all of the leading European defense contractors.