"Buy, buy, buy".
This was the message from Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen when she announced a multi-billion kronor injection into the Danish defense earlier in the week.
The money, equivalent to around 75 billion Swedish kronor, means that Denmark's defense investments in the short term will reach up to three percent of the country's GDP.
At the same time, Sweden and other countries are also considering how to increase their defense investments following the US announcement that Europe must take greater responsibility for its own defense.
Even if Europe does not go as far as the five percent of GDP mentioned by US President Donald Trump, it will still mean a massive buildup, notes Martin Lundmark, university lecturer in defense systems at the Swedish Defense University.
This means that it may take time before the investments are seen in practice.
A similar situation arose a while after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. If it becomes as much now or more, it will be an enormous increase and such spare capacity does not exist in the defense industry, says Martin Lundmark.
Money but no time
Robert Limmergård, Secretary-General of the Swedish Security and Defense Industry Association (Soff), is on the same track.
What we're seeing now is that they have the money, but they don't have the time, he says.
Now countries have chosen to procure, and are trying to procure materiel, as quickly as they can. But it also needs to be delivered.
Among other things, he continues, every order is usually preceded by a relatively long procurement process.
We usually say that nine out of ten customers are abroad. But it's still the case that there is a procuring authority in most countries. We usually say that in simple deals it takes 4-5 years from start to finish.
Faster decisions
According to Martin Lundmark, there are however important lessons to be learned from the buildup that has already taken place. For example, from the ammunition and grenade area, where the EU's promises to Ukraine have led to a coordinated effort.
There were bottlenecks when it came to certain explosives, fuses, and more. But they've got a good grip on it now, he says.
There was a decisiveness that emerged. It was faster to make decisions where they might have previously hesitated more. The entire defense area has become so incredibly prioritized, so it's a change in priorities in short.
