Innovate and produce faster?

The best equipment at the best price is obviously what everyone wants. This is to generate as much combat power as possible within the existing budget. To this has recently been added the desire 'As fast as possible'. But don't other factors also play a role? And here we are not thinking primarily of the economic interests of the defence industry, but of availability.

Because what use is the best equipment if it is not available at the moment suprême? The Russian invasion of Ukraine shows that threats can quickly turn into an actual conflict and thus also demonstrates the importance of a defence industry that is prepared to deal with this kind of unexpected peak demand. This applies to the European defence industry, but certainly also to the Dutch one. Because when it comes down to it, a certain degree of self-reliance is crucial.

The availability of vaccines during the Corona crisis taught us that the shirt is still nearer the skirt. Even neighbouring countries and EU states shielded export bans on scarce vaccines and other resources. What lessons can we draw from this for our defence and security world. Is availability under crisis conditions a factor at all in our equipment selection process? And in what ways can we prepare for the situation that we might also end up at the very back of the queue? And which primary technologies should we focus on then?

Does having unique technological know-how, a stronger national defence industry, better agreements and trade-offs help? How does this relate to the pursuit of European Strategic Autonomy?

At the 2024 Kooy symposium, we will address these questions.

The detailed programme can be found here