The United States dominates in semiconductors, satellite technology, advanced sensors, and aerospace propulsion. European defense companies rely on American supply chains because in many cases, there is no European alternative at comparable quality and cost.

The EU has launched PESCO (Permanent Structured Cooperation) to coordinate defense projects and the European Defence Fund to finance joint procurement. But these initiatives have been criticized as bureaucratic and slow. The real test is whether European industry can manufacture advanced systems at scale without American components.

France is betting it can. President Emmanuel Macron has made strategic autonomy a cornerstone of his foreign policy. The FLP-T 150 is meant to prove the concept.

The Transatlantic Dimension

This is also about European leverage vis-à-vis Washington. If European countries can develop and export advanced weapons without American approval, they gain geopolitical flexibility. They can supply Ukraine, arm partners in Africa or Asia, and pursue independent security policies without waiting for a green light from the Pentagon.

That prospect makes some in Washington nervous. It delights those in Brussels who have grown tired of European security policy being contingent on American permission.

One French defense official, speaking on background, put it simply: "We are not trying to replace NATO. We are trying to have options."

Brussels decides more than you think. But when it comes to defense, Brussels has historically decided very little because Washington held the export keys. France just built a rocket launcher to change that. Now we see if the rest of Europe follows.