Europe holds high-level talks on rearming continent, boosting Ukraine aid.

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European military and political heads are holding high-level talks this week after calls for massively rearming Europe — and boosting aid for Kyiv — amid fears of a less engaged United States. Lisa Bryant has more from Paris.

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Windfall for European arms makers as Brussels ramps up defence spending

Weapons manufacturers across Europe are rushing to secure contracts after EU countries announced plans to dramatically increase defence spending. Share prices of European arms companies had already risen sharply following the US decision to suspend military aid to Ukraine [...] Some deals are already in motion [...]

[After Starlink satellite network-owner Elon Musk has raised concerns about the network being used for military purposes] Europe is looking at alternatives. Paris-based Eutelsat, the world’s third-largest satellite operator by revenue, is in talks to replace Starlink in Ukraine [...]

On 6 March, Italian company Leonardo signed a deal with Turkey's Baykar for a joint venture to produce drones as defence companies rush to respond to the surge in European military spending [...]

Increased demand may revive the EU's Eurodrone project, a four-nation development programme involving Germany, France, Italy and Spain [...]

Meanwhile, the Czech Republic announced it will extend its Czech ammunitions initiative with Denmark, Canada, Portugal and Latvia, which already supplied Kyiv with 1.6 million rounds of large-calibre ammunition last year [...]

Overall, the biggest winners from the increase in EU defence spending are likely to be Germany's Rheinmetall, France's Thales and Saab of Sweden, while BAE systems of the UK is well-positioned to benefit from increased military budgets across EU nations [...]