> I don't think there are any particular weapon types for which there is no qualified European alternative.

Strategic bombers and fifth-generation multi-role aircraft are definitely missing. You could maybe convert A400Ms using a Rapid-Dragon style system into an adequate B-52/Tu-95/H-6N-like bomber, but it wouldn't be a modern penetration bomber like the B-1 and certainly not like the B-2 or B-21. The arguably best European fighter is the French 4.5+ gen Rafale. It's damn good but lacks the stealth of the F-22 and J-10, and the sensor fusion of the F-35.

Maybe also add heavy-lift helicopters, I don't think Europe produces anything in the class of the CH-53/CH-46 and definitely not the Mi-26, but a good-enough big heli is a much easier engineering problem compared to the other two aforementioned equipment categories.

Stealth is losing its effectiveness with new VHF targeting radars that can track stealth aircraft. Maybe EU sensor fusion algorithms are not as advanced as in the F-35? They certainly must have some kind of sensor fusion algorithms, if just to create coherent cockpit displays of what is going on in an airspace. Maybe they lack cooperative sensor fusion across multiple aircraft? Are bombers still effective any more? I know they are being used by Russia to launch stand-off weapons, but isn't a long range missile as good as or better than having a bomber? Maybe the modern way to think of a bomber is as a reusable missile first stage so the missiles can be smaller and cheaper. Actually flying bombers over cities/bases and dropping bombs no longer happens, does it? Stealth in a bomber buys you nothing if the bomber is directly above you because the cross section becomes enormous. Maybe precision glide-bombs are cheaper than surface to surface missiles. I think if an army had a choice they'd rather have many S-S missiles rather than many glide bombs and a few bombers. The missiles would be much more versatile, as long as they had enough of them.

I have yet to see a good analysis of the tradeoffs between big expensive weapons and many cheap drone weapons. It seems possible that very soon the big expensive weapons will be seen as too expensive and less capable. Ukraine is making millions of drones, maybe when the are making tens of millions they'll care less about conventional weapons. Seems like making lots of drones could help the EU scale up quickly without a lot of research and at lower cost.