Defense companies jack up Germany’s auto industry to make weapons fast

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Germany’s economy should embrace the pivot from cars to defense equipment as a major growth driver, according to a proposal by the country’s leading defense industry group.

The Federal Association of the German Security and Defense Industry (BDSV) pitched the idea last week while hailing the incoming government’s pledge to continue expanding the defense budget drastically. To overcome production bottlenecks, the argument goes, why not repurpose manufacturing capabilities of Germany’s famed, but ailing, automobile sector?

The idea is part of a package of measures advanced by the defense industry that seeks to inject the same type of urgency into military manufacturing that animated German leaders when it came to substituting Russian gas in the country’s energy mix following Moscow’s war against Ukraine.

In Brussels and national capitals here, there will be fresh money to spend on defense. At the same time, the continent’s production sites were never intended for mass output. The European Union has nevertheless unveiled a plan, dubbed “ReArm Europe,” that could funnel more than €800 billion ($868 billion) to defense spending across the Union’s 27 member states.

The push coincides with a remarkable breakdown in the transatlantic partnership with the United States. Germany and Europe more broadly have long relied on weapons imports from the U.S. to meet their domestic needs, even though the continent is home to a host of significant arms manufacturers itself.

Redirecting the German auto sector to produce tanks, shells and other military gear is not an entirely new idea. In June 2024, auto parts giant Continental and arms behemoth Rheinmetall signed a memorandum of understanding to facilitate the retraining of auto workers affected by layoffs in the shrinking industry.

“The far-reaching changes in all industries can only be mastered together,” said Continental’s board member for human resources and sustainability, Ariane Reinhart. Rheinmetall, meanwhile, gloated about the defense sector boom in a joint press release and was quick to point out the company expected 40% more profits in 2024 than just a year before.

The agreement outlined various means for Rheinmetall, itself an automotive company, to recruit trained workers, including holding events at automotive plants and offering employment at defense factories near locations that were shutting down or downsizing.

Last month, the defense giant announced it would repurpose two factories in Berlin and Neuss that previously made car parts to produce primarily military goods instead.

Rheinmetall’s operating profit in its weapons segment nearly doubled to €339 million ($368 million) in the first nine months of 2024, while its automotive business declined by 3.8% to €74 million ($80 million) during the same period.

Other defense players are getting involved, too, with sensor specialist Hensoldt reportedly in talks to hire 200 workers from auto parts suppliers Continental and Bosch, according to Reuters.

And German-French joint venture KNDS recently acquired a historic rail car plant in Görlitz from French train maker Alstom. The factory will be retooled to produce components for military vehicles, including the Leopard 2 battle tank and Puma infantry fighting vehicle.

In an email to defense news, Hans Christoph Atzpodien, the head of the German defense industry lobbying group, said he expected “wholly new dimensions to the question of arms demand,” including the need for faster deliveries, not just higher volume.

The government should support the transition by providing means for retraining and covering the costs for relocation of employees, he argued.

One key bottleneck lies in security screenings for would-be weapons builders, the BDSV association said. Such background checks can take many weeks or longer, a process that must be accelerated dramatically, according to the industry group.

Meanwhile, other sectors of the economy are itching for a piece of the pie, Atzpodien said, including the machine building, steel and construction industries.

“In general, I am quite sure that we will soon enter a mode in which a great many economic resources from other sectors will now be harnessed for armaments,” he said.

Linus Höller is Defense News' Europe correspondent and OSINT investigator. He reports on the arms deals, sanctions, and geopolitics shaping Europe and the world. He holds master’s degrees in WMD nonproliferation, terrorism studies, and international relations, and works in four languages: English, German, Russian, and Spanish.

荷兰海牙——德国领先的国防工业集团提出，德国经济应该将产业重心从汽车转向国防装备，以此作为主要的增长动力。

德国联邦安全与国防工业协会（BDSV）上周提出了这一想法，同时对即将上任的政府承诺继续大幅增加国防预算表示欢迎。该协会认为，为了克服生产瓶颈，为什么不重新利用德国著名但日渐衰落的汽车行业的制造能力呢？

这一想法是国防工业提出的一系列措施的一部分，旨在向军事制造业注入同样的紧迫感，就像当年莫斯科对乌克兰发动战争后，德国领导人在能源结构中用俄罗斯天然气替代俄罗斯天然气时所展现出的紧迫感一样。

在布鲁塞尔和各国首都，将有新的资金用于国防开支。与此同时，欧洲大陆的生产基地原本并非为大规模生产而设计。尽管如此，欧盟还是公布了一项名为“重整欧洲”（ReArm Europe）的计划，该计划可能向欧盟27个成员国的国防开支注入超过8000亿欧元（约合8680亿美元）。

这一举措恰逢跨大西洋伙伴关系与美国关系出现显著破裂。德国乃至整个欧洲长期以来依赖从美国进口武器来满足国内需求，尽管欧洲大陆本身也拥有众多重要的武器制造商。

将德国汽车行业转型生产坦克、炮弹和其他军用装备并非全新的想法。2024年6月，汽车零部件巨头大陆集团和军火巨头莱茵金属公司签署了一份谅解备忘录，旨在帮助受汽车行业裁员影响的工人进行再培训。

“各行各业发生的深远变革只有携手才能应对，”大陆集团负责人力资源和可持续发展的董事会成员阿丽亚娜·莱因哈特表示。与此同时，莱茵金属公司在一份联合新闻稿中对国防领域的蓬勃发展大加赞赏，并迅速指出该公司预计2024年的利润将比上一年增长40%。

该协议概述了莱茵金属公司（本身是一家汽车公司）招募训练有素工人的各种方法，包括在汽车工厂举办活动，以及在即将关闭或缩减规模的国防工厂附近提供就业机会。

上个月，这家国防巨头宣布将改造位于柏林和诺伊斯的两家工厂，这两家工厂以前生产汽车零部件，现在主要生产军用产品。

2024 年前九个月，莱茵金属武器部门的营业利润几乎翻了一番，达到 3.39 亿欧元（3.68 亿美元），而同期其汽车业务的营业利润下降了 3.8%，至 7400 万欧元（8000 万美元）。

据路透社报道，其他国防企业也纷纷加入，传感器专家亨索尔特公司据称正在洽谈从汽车零部件供应商大陆集团和博世公司招聘 200 名工人。

德法合资企业KNDS近期从法国列车制造商阿尔斯通手中收购了位于格尔利茨的一家历史悠久的铁路车辆工厂。该工厂将进行改造，用于生产军用车辆零部件，包括豹2主战坦克和美洲狮步兵战车。

德国国防工业游说团体负责人汉斯·克里斯托夫·阿茨波迪恩在给国防新闻的一封电子邮件中表示，他预计“武器需求问题将出现全新的层面”，包括需要更快的交付速度，而不仅仅是更高的数量。

他认为，政府应该通过提供再培训手段和承担员工搬迁费用来支持转型。

BDSV协会表示，一个关键瓶颈在于对潜在武器制造者的安全审查。该行业组织认为，此类背景调查可能需要数周甚至更长时间，必须大幅加快这一进程。

阿茨波迪恩表示，与此同时，其他经济部门也渴望分一杯羹，包括机械制造、钢铁和建筑业。

“总的来说，我相当肯定我们很快就会进入一种模式，在这种模式下，来自其他领域的大量经济资源将被用于军备制造，”他说。

林努斯·霍勒是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者和开源情报调查员。他报道影响欧洲乃至全球的军火交易、制裁和地缘政治。他拥有大规模杀伤性武器不扩散、恐怖主义研究和国际关系三个硕士学位，并精通英语、德语、俄语和西班牙语四种语言。