Detlev Karg

The Volkswagen plant in Osnabrück could in future potentially be converted to the production of military vehicles. German business magazine Wirtschaftswoche reports that a takeover of the plant by the Israeli defence company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems was moving closer. The Israelis are said to be planning to manufacture carrier vehicles for the Iron Dome air defence system there as part of Europe’s wider air defence architecture, the magazine reported.

A five-member German expert group from industry, academia and politics considers far-reaching European defence autonomy to be both technologically feasible and financially viable. The experts outlined the prospects and opportunities in a paper that has now been published by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

The competition for dominance in space is no longer a distant prospect – it is already under way. While the United States and China continue to expand their capabilities in orbit, Europe is still defining its role between technological strength and political fragmentation. Satellite constellations, missile defence and space surveillance have become central building blocks of geopolitical power. 

The war in Iran and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz are reverberating far beyond oil markets. In addition to disruptions in energy supplies and noble gases such as helium, the crisis is now affecting a material critical to defence production: aluminium. The consequences are being felt across the European Union.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius is seeking to deepen defence-industrial cooperation with India. In Berlin, he signed a ten-point roadmap with a delegation led by his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh, aimed at strengthening collaboration and supporting the sector.

USA Rare Earth has agreed to acquire Brazil’s Serra Verde Group for around $2.8 billion, taking control of a strategically important rare earth mine and processing facility. The deal bolsters the US mine-to-magnet supply chain at a time when geopolitical tensions with China are heightening supply risks. European defence manufacturers and policymakers should take note.

Defence group Rheinmetall is expanding and plans to build cruise missiles in future. The Düsseldorf-based company announced the creation of a joint venture with European missile manufacturer Destinus, which is headquartered in the Netherlands. This would put the company in competition with the Taurus cruise missile.

HD Advanced Technologies (HDAT), a subsidiary of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG, and the American-Israeli company Ondas Autonomous Systems (OAS), a subsidiary of US-based Ondas, are joining forces to manufacture counter-drone systems in Germany. 

The Bundeswehr is planning to procure so-called kamikaze drones, also known as loitering munitions. Among those expected to win a share of the contract is defence group Rheinmetall with its FV-104 RAIDER system, initially with a procurement volume of €2.5 billion. However, there are now considerable doubts about RAIDER’s operational readiness.

According to the international strategy consultancy Strategy&, a subsidiary of PwC, German defence companies will not be able to meet demand from the Bundeswehr for the foreseeable future. The German armed forces will therefore remain dependent on weapons imports for a long time to come, Der Spiegel reported on Thursday, citing a model calculation by Strategy&.

One in six industrial companies in Germany is already integrated into the defence industry’s value chain, according to the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHK). The proportion is said to be particularly high in vehicle manufacturing, at 36 per cent.

The supply of rare earths is of central strategic importance to the defence industry. Without these metals, many modern weapons systems simply cannot function. Yet it is precisely in these critical raw materials that Europe remains heavily dependent on China. 

The debate surrounding the procurement of rare earth elements–particularly against the backdrop of Europe’s lack of strategic sovereignty in this sector–shows no sign of abating. The hurdles for procurement remain significant, as Dr Martin Erdmann of the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources explains in an interview with Aerospace & Defence.

The German federal government is obviously preparing to take a relevant stake in the French-German tank manufacturer KNDS, which is planning a stock market listing. 

The Bundeswehr is pushing ahead with the use of artificial intelligence to significantly speed up decision-making in combat. The aim is to analyse vast amounts of battlefield data more quickly than ever before — and thereby gain a tactical advantage.

Until the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, drones in military use were still regarded as rather exotic weapons systems within the Western alliance. On the battlefield, however, drones quickly established themselves as disposable weapons, driven primarily by the Ukrainian armed forces. Since then, development in Europe has accelerated dramatically. An overview.

Diesel or gasoline still dominate the propulsion systems of military vehicles. For heavy land systems such as main battle tanks, this will likely remain the case for the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, manufacturers and universities are researching alternative propulsion systems for military operational scenarios. Aerospace & Defence spoke with Prof. Dieter Gerling, who conducts research and teaches in Munich, about this field.

The use of alternative fuels, or so-called e-fuels, is being discussed not only at the European level. In the defence sector, there are initiatives to produce fuels for military operations without relying on petroleum, aiming to achieve a greater degree of independence. The same trend applies to electric drives, which can be integrated into hybrid powertrains. 

Germany and its NATO partners are rearming — and are expected to do so — in line with recent NATO directives and under growing pressure from the United States. European nations, in particular, are being called upon. For years, the two-percent target — which remained non-binding until the NATO Summit in Wales in 2014 — dominated the debate. Even after Russia’s annexation of Crimea that same year, many European NATO members, including Germany, continued to fall short of the goal. Only a few, such as Poland and the Baltic states, significantly exceeded it — for understandable reasons.