The European Long-Range Strike Industry
Supply Chains, Production Capacity and the Sovereignty Gap
Europe’s deep precision strike problem is no longer best understood as the absence of a single missile system. It is a broader industrial and strategic deficit involving effectors, propulsion, guidance, energetic materials, test infrastructure, launch platforms, stockpile depth, replenishment capacity and political control over critical technologies. The uncertainty surrounding U.S. long-range deployments in Germany has made this vulnerability more visible, but it did not create it. Europe retains important expertise in air- and sea-launched strike systems, yet it still lacks a fully sovereign, fielded and replenishable conventional architecture in the 1,000–3,000 km range. The core issue is therefore not only range, but the capacity to industrialise long-range strike at scale.
The report examines this problem through a defence-industrial lens. It begins with the strategic and doctrinal framework, including the legacy of the INF Treaty and the renewed European requirement for deep precision strike. It then analyses ELSA, the UK-Germany 2,000 km initiative, FC/ASW, Tyrfing, One Way Effector and other national or bilateral programmes. The industrial sections map the prime contractors, sub-tier suppliers, propulsion base, energetic-materials chain, guidance and navigation systems, warheads, materials and test infrastructure. The final sections assess production capacity, stockpile replenishment, export controls, ITAR exposure, EU financing instruments, comparative benchmarks and Italy’s potential role in the emerging European long-range strike ecosystem.