Andrius Kubilius has opposed "good enough" systems to "haute couture equipment"
ANKARA – Europe’s drive to mass-produce weapons should not come at the expense of advanced military capabilities, KNDS has warned, arguing that only soldiers on the battlefield can determine what is “good enough.”
For several months, EU Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius has urged Europeans arms makers to drop “haute couture” systems and focus instead on “good enough” equipment to step up production.
But Marcel Grisnigt, the Executive Vice President for International Development at KNDS, told Euractiv on Tuesday, on the margins of the NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum, that not everything can be affordable mass. Armed forces will always need some sophisticated systems, he said, citing battle tanks and artillery systems that monitor and control unmanned drones and vehicles on the front lines as an example.
He also argued that “there’s only one person determining what’s good enough, the soldiers who have to work with the equipment in the field”.
