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At the heart of this initiative are two financial juggernauts: the European Defence Industry Programme (EDIP) and the Strategic Armament Financing Envelope (SAFE). SAFE, a €150 billion loan facility, allows member states to pool their purchasing power to buy weapons at scale. The demand has been overwhelming; by early 2026, SAFE had already received requests for nearly 700 projects, with nations clamoring for €50 billion in air defense systems, missiles, and maritime drones. This is the beginning of a unified European arms market, one intended to ensure that a French battery and a Polish radar can speak the same language on the battlefield.
