COMMENT The defence production surge
Is the electrical supply chain ready for rearmament? By Ryan Barnhart, senior supply chain director, WireMasters
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cross NATO and allied markets, rearmament is driving a sharp rise in production demand for munitions, drones and military platforms. As defence programmes accelerate output, the supply chain must keep pace across every layer of manufacturing, including the wiring and cable that support power and communications. The upcoming NATO Summit is expected to sharpen the focus on industrial readiness and the capacity needed to sustain higher defence production.
At the 2025 NATO Summit in The Hague, Allies committed to invest fi ve per cent of GDP annually in core defence and security- related spending by 2035, including at least 3.5 per cent for core military requirements and up to 1.5 per cent for areas such as critical infrastructure and defence industrial capacity.
NATO stated that the investment would provide the “forces, capabilities, resources, infrastructure, warfi ghting readiness and resilience” needed to strengthen deterrence and defence. As leaders prepared to meet again in Ankara, one challenge will have been ensuring industry can translate those
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As defence
programmes accelerate, supply continuity and early planning for
qualifi ed components will become
increasingly important to keeping production on track.
commitments into sustained production. Demand at scale
”
The current increase in demand is being driven by a broader push to rebuild defence capacity. Governments are replenishing munitions stocks while accelerating procurement across newer and established platforms, including drones, interceptors, ground vehicles and naval systems. This is moving more programmes into production at the same time, creating sustained demand for the qualifi ed electrical components needed to build and integrate
JULY/AUGUST 2026 | ELECTRONICS FOR ENGINEERS
them.
Mil-spec wire and cable underpin the power, communications and data systems used across modern defence platforms. Demand is rising for high-performance products as these platforms take on more advanced sensing and electronic capability. NATO has noted that “emerging and disruptive technologies like artifi cial intelligence, autonomous systems, biotech and quantum technologies are changing the character of confl ict”, increasing the need for shielded data and power cables that can support more complex electrical architectures. Harness-protection products are also under greater pressure as manufacturers work to maintain reliability in demanding environments. The challenge is that the products seeing the strongest demand are often the hardest to scale. High-temperature aerospace wire and ruggedised harness- management products rely on specialist materials and military qualifi cations and are produced by a limited number of approved manufacturers. That restricts how quickly supply can respond when several defence programmes increase output at once. What
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