Since 2025, European defence procurement has had a new line in the eligibility annex: where is this actually made? The EU's SAFE instrument (Security Action for Europe) puts up to €150 billion behind joint defence purchasing and ties that money to strict European-content rules. The question reaches every line item, down to the humble transport case. This guide is updated for the 2026/27 planning season.
Every fielded system travels, and everything that travels needs protection, so cases, racks and transport containers are part of the same conversation. Below you get the full picture in 11 points: what SAFE requires, why protective equipment matters to compliance teams, and why Peli's European manufacturing, including the German-made Euro-V Rack line, fits the SAFE era.
This article is an orientation, not legal advice. SAFE eligibility is always assessed per tender, per project and per product configuration. Point 11 explains how we help with exactly that.
Part One: What SAFE Requires, in Plain Language
1. SAFE in one paragraph: €150 billion with strings attached
SAFE, formally Regulation (EU) 2025/1106 and in force since late May 2025, is the EU's largest defence-financing instrument to date: up to €150 billion in competitively priced, long-maturity loans that member states can draw on for defence procurement, based on national investment plans. It is the first pillar of the broader ReArm Europe / Readiness 2030 push, and it deliberately favours joint procurement, meaning projects with at least two participating countries, to drive interoperability and scale.
The money is already moving. Initial tranches were approved for a first group of member states at the start of 2026, and approvals extended to a wider group in the following months, with Poland among the largest expected beneficiaries. This is no longer a policy paper. Budgets exist, tenders are forming, and procurement teams are reading the fine print for the 2026/27 cycle.
2. The 65/35 rule: the heart of "European preference"
The headline clause: across SAFE-funded procurement, at least 65% of the estimated component costs of the final product must originate from the EU, the EEA-EFTA states (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland) or Ukraine. Put the other way, no more than 35% of component value may come from outside that circle. Components deemed contrary to the Union's security interests are excluded outright, and category-two projects face stricter conditions, including real design authority for the contractor.
The intent is explicit: move defence production into the expanded European circle and reduce dependency on suppliers whose governments could switch support off. For anyone assembling a SAFE-funded project, component origin becomes arithmetic. Every part of the final product adds its cost to one side of the 65/35 ledger or the other.
3. Where things are made, and how fast tenders can move
Two more features complete the picture. First, SAFE expects the manufacturing infrastructure for funded projects to sit within the participating states, so the instrument finances European capacity and not only European invoices. Second, SAFE-financed acquisitions benefit from a presumption of urgency under the EU defence procurement directive (2009/81/EC), which unlocks accelerated procedures. Vendors who win are those whose paperwork on origin, availability and lead times is ready in advance.
Part Two: Why Cases and Racks Are Part of the Conversation
4. Everything counts toward the ledger, including protection
The 65/35 calculation runs on the component costs of the final product, and fielded systems are procured as working packages: the sensor and the transit case it deploys in, the radio and the rack it is mounted in, the medical module and the containers that move it. When a programme buys thousands of transport cases and hundreds of rack enclosures as part of a logistics footprint, their origin is real money on the European side of the ledger, or on the other side.
5. Readiness is a logistics property
SAFE's deeper goal is readiness, and readiness lives or dies in logistics. Equipment that arrives damaged does not exist, and spare electronics without shock-protected transport are a warehouse, not a capability. Serious buyers therefore specify protection as engineering: IP67 sealing against climate swings between theatres, pressure equalisation for air transport, stackable and palletisable geometry, padlockable custody, and shock-isolated rack mounting so systems travel installed and arrive operational. It is the same sealing philosophy that has protected civilian dive and water-expedition kits for decades, and our explainer on what IP67 really means shows what the rating does and does not promise.
6. In the SAFE era, documentation is a feature
Between two technically equal products, the one with clean origin documentation wins. SAFE projects will be audited against their content declarations, which pushes primes and integrators towards suppliers who can state in writing, per product, where an item is manufactured, and towards distributors who answer such requests in days, not quarters. Documentable origin is part of the product.
Part Three: Peli's European Answer
7. A European company structure since 1997
Peli Products S.L.U. was established in Barcelona in 1997 as the European headquarters and has run the brand's EU and EMEA business for nearly three decades: a European legal entity, European warehousing and distribution, a European service network, and a distributor web, ours included, operating across the single market. For procurement teams that means EU invoicing, EU VAT, EU consumer and warranty law, and support in your time zone.
8. Made in Europe, and the lead-time dividend
Peli manufactures in Europe. The company operates European production, notably in Germany, alongside its American plants, and a substantial share of the cases sold on this continent is made on this continent. The footprint was built for a mundane reason that procurement people value anyway: lead times. Cases moulded in Europe reach European customers far faster than transatlantic freight, and under SAFE's urgent procedures that is a competitive parameter, not a convenience.
9. The Euro-V Rack: metric, shock-mounted, made in Germany
Rack cases are exactly the category SAFE-funded electronics programmes consume in quantity, so the Euro-V Rack line deserves a close look. It is a rotomoulded, smooth-finished rack case family, manufactured in Germany to shorten European lead times. Inside sits a 19-inch EIA-standard steel rack in 610 mm and 762 mm depths with the industry-standard square-hole pattern, optimised for metric-mounted equipment (M6). Wall-mounted cylindrical shock mounts isolate payloads from transport shock and vibration, so electronics travel installed. Nine sizes cover 4U to 10U, each with moulded-in stacking ribs, edge casters and multiple handles.
The Euro-V is also interstackable with the Super-V and BlackBox rack families, so mixed fleets stack, strap and palletise together as one system. We stock the Super-V family in the shop and source Euro-V sizes on request (see point 11).
Shock-mounted rack cases, deployment-ready
Part Four: Putting It Together
10. Building deployment packages that fit the era
A SAFE-minded equipment package looks like good deployment kit always has, with origin added to the checklist. A comms module: radios and power in a shock-mounted rack, spares and batteries in sealed IP67 cases with foam shadow layouts, everything colour-coded and padlockable. An optics or drone package: airframes and payloads immobilised in custom-cut foam, a discipline our drone-survival guide covers in depth, with ground stations rack-mounted and the whole set palletising as one stack. Choosing between cut foam and modular dividers for such kits is covered in foam dividers or TrekPak. Long equipment goes into dedicated long cases.
Peli's catalogue covers the whole spectrum from one family tree: Protector, Storm, Air, rack systems and Peli-Hardigg transport containers, with custom foam engineering on top. One supplier, one standard, one set of spare parts and one origin conversation instead of ten. For travel kit, hard-shell materials explained compares HPX resin with the alternatives.
11. What an authorized EU distributor provides, and the honest fine print
As an authorized Peli distributor operating across the EU, we bring three things to SAFE-era projects. Per-product origin information: for any case in a quote, we confirm with the manufacturer where that specific configuration is produced and provide the documentation your compliance file needs. Volume and configuration handling: unit-scale orders, colour standardisation, custom foam layouts, and sourcing of lines we do not hold on the shelf, Euro-V sizes included. European logistics: EU invoicing and deliveries across 33 markets, with the short lead times European production makes possible.
And the fine print: SAFE eligibility is determined at project level, not by any single component's brochure. Whether a given case counts toward your 65% depends on the product configuration, its documented place of manufacture and how your tender calculates component value. What we promise is the part suppliers control: accurate, written, per-SKU origin answers, fast.
Which Model for Which Job
Dimensions and weights below come from our product cards. Always confirm payload and configuration against the current data sheet before ordering.
| Model | Best for | Key facts |
|---|---|---|
| Peli Super-V Rack Case 3U | Compact comms, switching and audio racks | 97.8 × 71.9 × 29 cm, 22.7 kg empty, 36–45 kg load (3U–5U models), M6 metric nuts |
| Peli Super-V Rack Case 7U | Broadcast and military AV chains | 97.8 × 71.9 × 46.7 cm, 27.2 kg empty, 45–77 kg load (7U–14U models) |
| Peli Super-V Rack Case 14U | Full equipment chains, touring and flyaway kits | 97.8 × 71.9 × 77.7 cm, 33.6 kg empty, up to 77 kg payload |
| Peli 1660 Transport Case | Large wheeled transport for instruments and AV gear | Pressure equalisation valve, stainless steel hardware, padlock-ready latches |
| Peli 1730 Protector Case | Heavy payloads in a rolling case | IP67, double O-ring seal, automatic valve, 5-layer Pick N Pluck foam option |
| Peli 1720 Protector Long Case | Long equipment | Watertight, crushproof, wheeled, padlock protectors on every latch |
| Peli Storm iM2950 | Off-road and expedition transport | HPX resin shell, Vortex valve, Press and Pull latches, telescoping handle |
The SAFE-Era Equipment Checklist
Speccing protective equipment for a European defence or dual-use project? Run the list:
- Origin: place of manufacture confirmed in writing, per SKU, not assumed from the brand
- The ledger: component costs mapped against the 65/35 European-content rule
- Standards: IP67 sealing, pressure equalisation, stackable geometry, padlockable hasps
- Electronics: shock-mounted racks (metric M6 for European equipment) so systems travel installed
- Fleet logic: interstackable families, colour-coded functions, one spare-parts ecosystem
- Lead times: European production checked, because urgent procedures reward fast suppliers
- Paper trail: a distributor who answers origin questions in days, in writing
The heavy end of the deployment catalogue:
Deployment-grade transport cases
FAQ: SAFE and Protective Cases
Does buying a Peli case automatically make my project SAFE-eligible?
No. Eligibility is determined at project level. The relevant factors are the specific product configuration, its documented place of manufacture and how your tender calculates component value. We can provide per-SKU origin information to support your compliance team's assessment.
Which Peli rack cases are made in Germany?
The Euro-V Rack line is manufactured in Germany, with 19-inch EIA racks in 610 mm and 762 mm depths, M6 metric optimisation and nine sizes from 4U to 10U. We stock the Super-V family and source Euro-V sizes on request.
What does the 65/35 rule mean in practice?
At least 65% of the estimated component costs must originate from the EU, the EEA-EFTA states or Ukraine. Cases and racks supplied with a system count toward that calculation.
Can I mix Euro-V, Super-V and BlackBox racks in one fleet?
Yes. The Euro-V is interstackable with the Super-V and BlackBox rack families, so mixed fleets can be stacked, strapped and palletised together.
The Bottom Line
SAFE has made supply-chain geography strategic all the way down the bill of materials. In that world, a case brand with a European headquarters since 1997, European manufacturing capacity, a German-made metric rack line and distributors who can document origin per SKU is a structurally convenient choice.
Planning a project, pricing a tender, or mapping your options for the 2026/27 cycle? Send us your equipment list and requirements, and we will come back with configurations, lead times and the origin paperwork to match.
