Will Europe Have Enough Missiles to Equip New Ships?

Europe is manufacturing increasingly capable naval platforms, yet its ability to equip them with enough advanced missiles remains uncertain. As European fleets expand and US stockpiles face growing demands, domestic missile production will be critical to sustaining Europe’s maritime power.

Officials recently confirmed that the US will send its sixth Arleigh Burke-class destroyer to Spain’s Rota base in the fall. (Mundo America, 2026; Bath, 2026) The US Navy has been occupied in the Middle East, but the decision was justified as “providing firepower that U.S. commanders have said is needed to keep Russia in check.” Yet the European shipbuilding industry has no reason to feel inferior to its American counterpart, whether in terms of platforms or the weapons systems they employ.

Impressive images of the US Navy’s fleet and of deep precision strikes hitting targets across Iran mask the reality of a struggling American shipbuilding industry. (U.S. GAO, 2025) The US Government Accountability Office argued, “Despite nearly doubling its shipbuilding budget over the last two decades, the U.S. Navy hasn’t increased its number of ships… the industry has not been able to meet the Navy’s goals—jeopardising the Navy’s ability to protect the U.S. from growing maritime threats and competition.”

The Constellation-class frigate program, for example, was supposed to be based on Italian Fincantieri’s design, but the US Navy kept changing requirements, putting it years behind schedule. (Insinna, 2025) America’s shipbuilding woes also impact international partners, as with AUKUS, the Australia/US/UK partnership to deliver next-generation nuclear attack submarines (SSNs). The deal was changed in May when it was announced Australia would now receive three second-hand nuclear-powered, Virginia-class submarines instead of the originally planned deal of one new sub along with two used subs. (Palazzo, 2026) This came despite Australia having given $2 billion to the US to help increase production capacity in the hopes of receiving a new submarine with more firepower. Luckily, the UK is building its submarines domestically and European shipbuilders are producing at an accelerated rate.

High-Quality European Naval Projects  

In addition to building SSN-AUKUS submarines, BAE’s shipyard is busy following the British government’s decision to increase the Royal Navy’s (RN) fleet of Astute-class nuclear-powered submarines from seven to twelve, as well as the UK’s order for “eight ‘high-end’ Type 26 anti-submarine warfare frigates” and Norway’s five. (Waters, 2025; Black and Kaushal, 2025) The UK’s National Shipbuilding Strategy created a 30-year pipeline for the country’s shipbuilding industry, and as a result, “While British manufacturing declined between 2019 and 2024, the country’s shipbuilding sector saw a 72% increase in its output during this same period.” (House of Commons Library, 2025; Reisener, 2026)

In France, Naval Group has been industrious in delivering France’s FDIs, with the fifth scheduled for 2032. Admiral Nicolas Vaujour confirmed in April that all the FDIs will have 32 Sylver A50 vertical-launch cells for firing Aster 15 missiles, instead of the original 16 (three FDIs will be retrofitted after delivery). (Ruitenberg, 2026; Wolf, 2026) Naval Group is also working on France’s fleet of six Suffren-class nuclear-powered submarines under the Barracuda program, with delivery initially planned for 2030, but the shipbuilder now says they might arrive earlier. (Zona Militar, 2026)

The Netherlands announced in June that Naval Group would supply F21 heavyweight torpedoes for the country’s new conventionally powered Orka-class submarines, also being manufactured by Naval Group. (The Defence Post, 2026a) The shipbuilder is proposing a similar submarine model to the Hellenic Navy as it pursues four new attack submarines after ordering a fourth FDI frigate from the company. (Ruitenberg, 2026)

Germany’s F126 frigate program was recently cancelled after ongoing delays but now plans to pursue eight smaller vessels for anti-submarine warfare. (Fischbach and Childs, 2026) Berlin is also pursuing a longer-term project to build unmanned Large Remote Missile Vessels (LRMV) by 2035 that would essentially be arsenal ships for air defence and maritime strike capabilities. (Naval News, 2025) The question is now which missiles will equip Europe’s fleets and who will produce them.

Arming European Fleets

Europe’s shipbuilding industry is bustling with many recent successful projects and even more in the pipeline – projects that, overall, deliver high-quality products on time and within budget. But the recent Iranian war shows these platforms are nothing without weapon systems that go with them. European military leaders are aware of this and, in addition to air defence missiles designed to protect naval assets, are prioritising offensive systems to enhance the fleets’ capabilities in terms of land-attack and anti-ship warfare.

To meet demand, Europe’s missile producers will have to step up, as CSIS observed: “Given the shortfalls in U.S. stockpiles, the Pentagon will inevitably prioritise rebuilding its own arsenal over supplying foreign partners.” (CSIS, 2026) Elaine McCusker, the Pentagon’s former deputy and acting comptroller, said the “timeline for replenishment of munitions for the most part will be measured in years — two-to-five for most.”

That includes for Tomahawks whose heavy use (30% of America’s stock) in Iran shows the importance of land-attack missiles. (CNN, 2026) Navy Lookout explained, “Ultimately a navy’s purpose is to influence events on land… Land Attack Cruise Missiles (LACM) offer a much safer alternative and a vital complement to carrier aircraft.” (Navy Lookout, 2024) The RN has Tomahawk Land-Attack Missiles (TLAMs) (Royal Navy, 2022) and Germany and the Netherlands plan to purchase them (van der Made, 2026; Naval Technology, 2025), although the missiles might be unavailable for a while; Europe has its own LACMs.

Most notably, French submarines and FREMM frigates are equipped with MBDA’s Naval Cruise Missile (NCM) that has a 1,400km range when fired from surface level and 1,000km when submarine-fired. First used in April 2018 against Syria, coordinated frigate/submarine tests were successfully conducted in 2024. (Naval News, 2024) MBDA will be extending this interoperability to land when it tests its Mark 2 version of the ground-launched Land Cruise Missile (LCM) by 2028. (European Security & Defence, 2026)

There is also Kongsberg’s sea-skimming Naval Strike Missile (NSM). Widely used by NATO allies, NSM can be used for land attacks, but is primarily designed for anti-ship strikes. (The Defence Post, 2026b; RT.com, 2025) NSM has replaced the UK’s American Harpoon missiles and is effective against small- to medium-sized boats, although combat use has been limited. Other anti-ship missiles include Saab’s RBS 15, used by Finland, Sweden, Germany, Croatia, and Poland, as well as MBDA’s Exocet, which equips French frigates and has been sold to 30+ countries. (Euromaidan Press, 2026; Defence Magazine, 2025)

The anti-ship capabilities of NSM (for the UK), Harpoon and Exocet will be replaced by 2030 with MBDA’s two complementary STRATUS missiles, developed under a program with France, the UK, and Italy that “promises to fuse penetration, suppression, and maritime lethality into a weapon tailored for Europe’s return to high-intensity warfare.” (Army Recognition, 2026) When used together, their capabilities include “deep strike, anti-ship warfare, SEAD/DEAD, and attacks on high-value assets from air and naval platforms.” (Army Recognition, 2026) The UK’s DIP commits £1.4 billion over four years to STRATUS as it “would provide the bulk of the country’s long-range strike capability.” (UK Defence Journal, 2026) The UK is overseeing STRATUS LO, a low-observable, subsonic stealth missile, although the RN’s LACMs could also benefit from the advanced anti-air defence capabilities of STRATUS RS, a fast, highly agile missile optimised for SEAD/DEAD operations. (The War Zone, 2025) Chief of Defence Staff Fabien Mandon announced France’s plans to acquire RS on April 9th, saying, “Given the development and proliferation of surface-to-air missile threats worldwide, it is essential to acquire a capability that will allow us to breach defences and penetrate enemy lines that might otherwise prevent us from doing so.” (BFM TV, 2026)

For Europe, the importance is no longer about a naval presence to “fly the flag,” but rather having platforms capable of striking deep into enemy forces to deter them from acting, while ensuring interoperability with land-based deep strike capabilities or airborne assets. Given current low European missile inventories, America’s domestic production needs and the continued Russian threat, the success of European navies will depend on how many sophisticated missiles like STRATUS they can load, fire, and reload. European missile producers are investing to expand production capacity to meet needs, but as CSIS argued, “A massive EU demand signal—backed by guaranteed contracts and front-loaded funding—could compress these timelines and expand their targets significantly.” (CSIS, 2026)

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