Reuters: Airbus Defense Chief Anticipates EU Military Spending Changes by 2018

Dirk Hoke, CEO of Airbus‘ defense and space segment, has said he expects to see changes to military spending in Europe next year and anticipates “intensive” discussions among European countries about the future of NATO, Reuters reported Tuesday.

“This discussion is long overdue when you consider that only five countries in Europe meet the goal of spending 2 percent of [gross domestic product] on defense, ” Hoke told Reuters in an interview.

Jens Hack writes Toulouse, France-based Airbus forecasts NATO member countries will move to increase military expenditures after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump accused the 28-member alliance of not doing enough to help combat terrorism.

Hoke also called on the government and commercial sectors to modernize weaponry at a shorter interval.

A Fitch Ratings report published last month forecasts the worldwide addressable defense market to grow between 3 percent and 5 percent over the next three years.

Earlier this month, Deloitte also issued a market analysis report that predicts a 2 percent growth in global aerospace and defense revenues for 2017.

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