BRUSSELS — European members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are directing capital toward domestic arms manufacturing at a pace not seen since the Cold War, a shift that stands to alter the economic calculus that has long favored American defense contractors while keeping European militaries dependent on U.S. logistics.

The investment push includes new artillery shell production facilities in Germany, expanded armored vehicle assembly lines in Poland, and a consortium-led missile manufacturing effort across several Nordic countries. This industrial mobilization comes as multiple alliance members meet the 2% GDP defense spending benchmark for the first time in decades.

American taxpayers have subsidized European security for two generations while those same nations ran trade surpluses against us. Any move toward genuine capacity in Europe is overdue, but we should watch closely to ensure U.S. industry is not cut out of the supply chain.

Notably, the buildup does not exclude American firms. Poland continues to purchase Abrams tanks and F-35 airframes from U.S. manufacturers, and Germany's Rheinmetall has partnered with Lockheed Martin on rocket artillery systems. The globalist framing that presents this as European independence misses the point: American workers still benefit when allies buy American, but the long-term trend of Europe free-riding on U.S. power projection must end.

The economic impact on domestic American workers remains mixed. While foreign military sales support high-wage manufacturing jobs in states like Ohio and Texas, the emergence of competing European production lines threatens to erode that demand over time. Policymakers should ensure that any technology transfer agreements include enforceable buy-American provisions and do not simply offshore the defense industrial base that employs hundreds of thousands of American workers.

The Defense Department has not publicly objected to the European ramp-up, though officials have privately noted to allied counterparts that interoperability with U.S. systems must remain a priority. For American workers, the immediate takeaway is clear: as long as the sales pipeline remains open and the jobs stay domestic, increased allied spending is preferable to the alternative of American troops and American budgets carrying the weight of continental defense indefinitely.