US may let European launchers fire American missiles

The US is considering clearing American rockets and missiles for use in European launchers, Euractiv learned, potentially removing a major obstacle to NATO allies sharing ammunition in wartime.

The move would mark a shift from Washington’s long-standing policy of restricting key US munitions to American-designed systems such as HIMARS and M270.

Relaxing those rules would tackle one of the biggest weaknesses emerging from Europe’s rush to long-range rocket artillery: NATO countries are buying more launchers, but not all of them can use the same ammunition.

As Euractiv reported, the previous obstacles have instead been political and commercial, including development costs and US concerns that opening sensitive software and interfaces could give competitors insight into American weapons technology.