Even before the meeting convened for the first weekend in March by the President of the European Commission to discuss security in Europe, the CEO of the German Rheinmetall group, Armin Papperger, announced that his group was considering converting two of its automotive component plants, which supplied parts for Golf and Audi, to arms production in view of the very high demand. Going a step further, he also announced his intention to take over Volkswagen''s Osnabrück plant, threatened with closure, to produce tanks.
In fact, business prospects are so good in the armaments sector following the EU''s decisions to do everything in its power to militarize European economies that, if things continue at this pace, we may soon have Porsche missiles (luxury ones, of course...)1. All joking aside, we''re left to wonder whether the former Merkel Defence Minister and now President of the European Commission isn''t a little too friendly with her compatriots in the group in question.
The group''s merchant shareholders are dancing for joy. According to defence specialist Saxo, sales in 2024 (€7.17 billion) rose by 36% to 9.75, and the company expects growth of 25-30% in 2025. This development is due to the fact that, in response to increasingly sophisticated and high-performance orders, the Group is investing, in addition to traditional hardware, in drone and anti-drone systems, AI-driven combat software and mobile air defense solutions. Such is the euphoria that Rheinmetall has declared that it could single-handedly assume 20-25% of NATO''s equipment expenditure in Europe up to 20302. It is also preparing for the prospect of rearming Ukraine after the conclusion of a peace agreement, should Russia''s demand for a disarmed Ukraine not be adopted.
War euphoria...
Not only NATO! The Berlin government has awarded Rheinmetall an 8.5 billion euro framework contract for the delivery of 155 mm shells. To cope with such a huge demand, the group will have to call on its various production units located in South Africa, Spain, Hungary and, soon, Ukraine, where the group recently announced the creation of a joint venture with a Ukrainian partner company where the group plans to produce up to 700,000 shells and 10,000 tons of powder per year3.
Armin Papperger is not exaggerating, then, when he predicts an order volume of 300 billion euros for the company over the next five years, since, according to him, the European defense budget could reach 1,000 billion euros by 2030. The future is so promising that the company plans to significantly expand its presence in the USA, where it currently generates sales of one billion dollars. Papperger says the company plans to at least double this figure.
And where do the politicians stand in all this?
Needless to say, the colossal 25-hour-a-day media campaign warning of an imminent Russian military attack on our peaceful communities, accompanied by targeted bombardments of our towns and cities, has been so successful, it''s so adept at fabricating anxiety-inducing feelings and behaviour. An argument whose absurdity borders on the pathetic when you consider that the Russian army took almost nine months to retake the town of Kursk.
It''s hardly surprising, then, that general public opinion is influenced by this rhetoric. According to a poll by the ZDF television channel, 76% of those questioned were in favor of increasing Bundeswehr resources, even if this meant increasing the country''s debt. This comes as no surprise, given that the PS-CDU alliance is proposing an army of 500,000 soldiers. Some are even beginning to suggest that the military nuclear option might be worth considering.
As for the so-called Left, the Socialist Party is more Atlanticist than ever, with Defence Minister Boris Pastorius taking a stance that rivals that of Mrs. Kallas at the European Union. Further to the left, an incident occurred on March 24 during the Bundestag debates on the defense budget, when the group of MPs from the BSW party Sahra Wagenknecht thought it appropriate to hold up placards bearing, in large letters, the phrase "In 1914 as in 2025: no to war credits!". The gesture, deemed discourteous and disrespectful to parliament, prompted a stern reprimand. The person responsible for the reprimand was Petra Pau, Vice-President of the Bundestag and member of the Die Linke party.
1. Between 2021 and 2024, total defense spending by EU member states increased by over 30%. By 2024, this had risen to some €326 billion, or around 1.9% of EU GDP. https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/defence-numbers/#0
2. https://www.opex360.com/2024/06/22/berlin-a-attribue-a-rheinmetall-un-contrat-cadre-de-85-milliards-deuros-pour-la-livraison-dobus-de-155-mm/
3. https://fr.businessam.be/rheinmetall-forte-croissance-chiffre-daffaires-augmentation-budgets-de-defense-europeens/