lukemcgee.bsky.social
Emmy-award-winning journalist. I write about European defence and security. I know a lot about Brexit and the EU.
Contributor to Foreign Policy magazine, among others.
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"What does this say to other leaders? It encourages displays of absolute power. Consider why Trump felt comfortable attacking Iran – a country trying to obtain a nuclear deterrent – versus Trump’s hesitancy to take stronger action against nuclear power Russia"
lukemcgee.substack.com/p/trump-has-...
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"What does this say to other leaders? It encourages displays of absolute power. Consider why Trump felt comfortable attacking Iran – a country trying to obtain a nuclear deterrent – versus Trump’s hesitancy to take stronger action against nuclear power Russia"
lukemcgee.substack.com/p/trump-has-...
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“Smaller European countries are obsessed with the idea of maximum lethality for minimum cost,” said one industry source. “From that perspective, it would make sense to make use of these people who know how to make stuff that we know for sure works.”
foreignpolicy.com/2025/06/26/u...
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Some more experiential weapon makers might decide they want to try something that is hard to do in a NATO country for legal or economic reasons. So why not send it to an actual warzone to use against a real-world invading force?
foreignpolicy.com/2025/06/26/u...
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The country's output capacity for weapons is currently $35bn, but they are only taking orders for 10bn. If the West wants to keep arming Ukraine, it's much cheaper to build those weapons in the country and send them to the front line.
foreignpolicy.com/2025/06/26/u...
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Again there is a long answer to that but in short: not quite the case.
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complicated answer to that which I would love to give you but am currently trying to fix a fence
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not the development of the weapon but obtaining a place to test it can be very difficult.
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Indeed! I had the pleasure of being in the middle of an experimental strike last month
www.thenewworld.co.uk/luke-mcgee-i...
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“Smaller European countries are obsessed with the idea of maximum lethality for minimum cost,” said one industry source. “From that perspective, it would make sense to make use of these people who know how to make stuff that we know for sure works.”
foreignpolicy.com/2025/06/26/u...
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Some more experiential weapon makers might decide they want to try something that is hard to do in a NATO country for legal or economic reasons. So why not send it to an actual warzone to use against a real-world invading force?
foreignpolicy.com/2025/06/26/u...
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The country's output capacity for weapons is currently $35bn, but they are only taking orders for 10bn. If the West wants to keep arming Ukraine, it's much cheaper to build those weapons in the country and send them to the front line.
foreignpolicy.com/2025/06/26/u...
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Tho of course Ireland not in nato (but take your point) 😉
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Depends. If Europeans work with Ukraine for example (which counts as European made) you start to see some very fast expansion.
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TL;DR: Raising spending is great but it needs to be done alongside a long-term strategy. Otherwise you end up wasting money and not building capacity you actually need.
If you want to read more of my thoughts, I am on Substack.
lukemcgee.substack.com
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The key bit
inews.co.uk/news/politic...
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The bad news: you can spend as much as you want but there needs to be stuff to buy if you are going to rearm yourself properly. Right now, NATO produces about one fifth of the TNT that Russia does.
A story I published in @theipaper.com
inews.co.uk/news/politic...
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A fascinating excerpt from a fascinating expert.
www.thedailybeast.com/how-trumps-s...
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The medium news: Trump's victory might mean that Europe sets up a rival arms industry to the US. It's not clear if that will be a good or a bad thing in the long-term, but it's certainly going to make things complicated.
Me in @thedailybeast.bsky.social
www.thedailybeast.com/how-trumps-s...
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Yeah, it is literally his job. And he does it well, by all accounts.
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TL;DR: Raising spending is great but it needs to be done alongside a long-term strategy. Otherwise you end up wasting money and not building capacity you actually need.
If you want to read more of my thoughts, I am on Substack.
lukemcgee.substack.com
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The key bit
inews.co.uk/news/politic...
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The bad news: you can spend as much as you want but there needs to be stuff to buy if you are going to rearm yourself properly. Right now, NATO produces about one fifth of the TNT that Russia does.
A story I published in @theipaper.com
inews.co.uk/news/politic...
comment in response to
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A fascinating excerpt from a fascinating expert.
www.thedailybeast.com/how-trumps-s...
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The medium news: Trump's victory might mean that Europe sets up a rival arms industry to the US. It's not clear if that will be a good or a bad thing in the long-term, but it's certainly going to make things complicated.
Me in @thedailybeast.bsky.social
www.thedailybeast.com/how-trumps-s...