European Nations Sign For MBDA Mistral Buy After Air Defense Summit

LE BOURGET—Five European nations have signed a cooperation agreement to jointly purchase MBDA Mistral man-portable surface-to-air missiles.

Signed during the French government’s summit on European air defense on the first day of the Paris Air Show here, the accord sees Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, France and Hungary buying the missiles. The joint approach is set to save costs and speed up deliveries.

The commitment by the five nations appears to be the most tangible outcome from the summit, which was convened by French President Emmanuel Macron.

The June 19 summit brought together military and political leaders to discuss European air defense. The focus was on current threats and the solutions to be developed and implemented to adapt air and missile defense systems—taking lessons from the war in Ukraine and Russia’s indiscriminate use of cruise and ballistic missiles—as well as one-way-attack uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS).

Macron warned against the trap of "rushing into capability" and buying equipment, often from outside Europe, without sufficiently considering the strategic dimension. He also cautioned against the risk of buying "non-European" goods to meet an immediate need. This is also the view of French Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu, who noted, "If we think about air defense from an industrial perspective alone, we're going to make mistakes."

In a social media post following the conference, Lecornu said, “The defense of European skies can only be achieved with European industrial solutions.”

Macron said it is necessary to "avoid thinking that each threat requires a specific technical response."

The French position on these issues can be summarized into six ideas, Lecornu said. He said France cannot prepare for just one type of threat, but must integrate the dimension of nuclear deterrence into strategic discussions. Lecornu also said ground-based air defense must be equipped with both offensive and defensive capabilities, in combination with fighter aircraft.

On industrial and economic issues, he called for a new industrial model and a transformation of European industries, while developing a "common military culture" in terms of interoperability. Finally, he urged greater consideration of hybrid and cyber threats from both military and civilian perspectives.

Macron also called for more joint projects and an "adapted and realistic" response to threats.

We need to build, and we all have a role to play. Each state must be responsible, and we must do better collectively," he said.

The French leader also said he wants to advance the standardization process at the European level to reinforce sovereignty and develop interoperability in order to reduce dependence on U.S. industry.

"Dependence is not desirable," Macron added.

Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur, who signed the Mistral procurement agreement on behalf of Estonia, said: "By purchasing jointly from a European producer, we can apply for support from the European Union as well. Our goal is that every euro invested in national defense produces maximum defense capability.”