• One year after the announcement of investments of 100 billion euros for the German armed forces, the German defense industry is optimistic about the future, although only a small part of the money has been called up so far and orders for tanks or artillery have so far failed to materialize.
• The CEO of the German Security and Defense Industry Association (BDSV), Hans-Christoph Atzpodien, stresses the urgency of investing in the Bundeswehr and that the industry is ready as a partner to the Bundeswehr and can get started quickly.

Companies are highly motivated and have already taken on entrepreneurial risk, he said. An increase in the regular defense budget is also important in addition to the special fund, Atzpodien said.

However, there is also criticism. One industry representative criticizes that the Bundeswehr procurement system is in a deep sleep and that everything takes far too long. Another is frustrated by the long wait for orders and complains that the Ministry of Defense demanded fast delivery a year ago, but then little happened. In public, however, defense managers present themselves differently and avoid undiplomatic statements in order not to alienate their biggest customer, the Bundeswehr.

Germany’s largest arms manufacturer, Rheinmetall, has added jobs in the past year and is seeing rising demand from other NATO and EU countries. Business is booming, and the company is approaching an order backlog of 30 billion euros, which is expected to grow to 40 billion next year.

Rheinmetall has already received a small order from the special fund and is expecting large orders in the field of ammunition, combat vehicles or even further digitization. At handgun manufacturer Heckler & Koch, too, things are looking up in terms of personnel and the company is doing better business, but not because of the special fund, but because of generally rising arms spending in NATO and the EU.

The BDSV stresses that it is important to spend even more on security in order to protect democracy and Europe as a whole. The Ukraine war has shown that our own peace urgently needs to be secured. Atzpodien, the association’s representative, is relieved that SPD politician Boris Pistorius is now in charge at the Ministry of Defense.

He is seeking talks with industry and tackling important equipment issues. In the partnership between the Bundeswehr and German defense companies, he says, it is important to work together in a spirit of trust.