A New Paradigm for European Defence: Key insights from the Deutsche Bank Conference

Deutsche Bank last week hosted its second European Defence Conference at its London headquarters, bringing together senior executives from leading defence companies, policymakers and global investors to discuss the evolving strategic and financial landscape of Europe’s defence sector.

Around 300 attendees took part including senior representatives from 30 companies ranging from Anduril and ARX Robotics to Hensoldt, Kongsberg, Renk and TKMS.

The conference was opened by Fabrizio Campelli, Head of Deutsche Bank’s Corporate Bank and Investment Bank and Member of the Management Board. The keynote speech was given by Her Excellency Ambassador Susanne Baumann, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the United Kingdom.

"Our conference provides a platform for dialogue on scale-up, innovation and the changing defence industrial landscape, at a time of very high activity for the sector,” said Felicitas von Bismarck, Head of EMEA Aerospace & Defence Investment Banking at Deutsche Bank. “It supports a vital conversation as companies and investors respond to these changing dynamics, and we see increased capital markets and M&A activity."

Key takeaways from the panel discussions at the event:

1: Budgets are no longer the bottle-neck. The challenge is no longer whether more will be spent, but where and how its transformed into capacity and capability.

2: It‘s on the industry to deliver the ramp-up. With funding commitments in place, the pressure is now on industry to scale, mobilise suppliers and deliver at speed

3: Fragmentation in national procurement continue to slow Europe down. Interoperability needs to be strengthened with defence tech as potential connecting layer.

4: Procurement systems remain too slow. Faster decisions and more flexible frameworks are critical, and procurement needs to catch up with the pace of innovation.

5: Second-order implication of Ukraine exposure is differentiation versus risks:Differentiated, battle-tested leaders vs accelerating advantage vs players with limited tech edge sustained purely by conflict

6: Orchestration of conventional platforms and defence tech: Future battlefield is shaped by the right orchestration of connected conventional platform and new defence technology

7: The defining metric is no longer just innovation; mass and affordability are becoming as important as sophistication.  Scalability is paramount, with a need for battle-tested, lower-cost systems that can be rapidly iterated and deployed in large numbers, complementing high-end conventional platforms.

8: Europe must build greater control over critical technologies, but transatlantic collaboration remains essential.

9: A capable defence industry relies on more than final assembly. Reliable access to specialist components, critical raw materials, and logistics is a security priority.

10: Strengthening Europe's extensive network of defence SMEs against global dependencies and disruptions was identified as a key task.

Deutsche Bank provides a wide range of banking products and services to the defence sector. It is committed to deepening this support to the sector and established a bank-wide cross-product defence and infrastructure working group in March 2025 bringing together over 30 bankers across structuring, sales, public sector and specialist coverage to facilitate this.

Since then, the bank has expanded its commitment to defence, aerospace and infrastructure, reflecting the strategic importance of these industries.

The approach focuses on supporting clients across the full value chain, facilitating access to capital, and working closely with policymakers and stakeholders to enable long-term investment in critical capabilities and resilient supply chains.

In June 2025, Deutsche Bank was the first firm to sign a deal with the European Investment Bank under the EIB’s expanded defence financing programme. In September 2025, it announced its support for the establishment of the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank.