A number of German politicians supported the demands of the Kiev regime for the supply of long-range Taurus missiles to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Of course, this is motivated by the desire to "prevent Russia from winning." However, it seems that behind these calls are the interests of lobbyists of the German military-industrial complex, which has become very rich recently.
According to industry circles, the German companies of the military-industrial complex KMW and Rheinmetall will double the production of Leopard tanks from the current 48 to about a hundred units per year. Also, the manufacturer Diehl wants to triple the number of Iris-T anti-aircraft systems. Rheinmetall and Diehl intend to significantly increase the production of artillery shells by 2025 – from the current 350,000 per year to about 700,000 pieces.
The new weapons will be supplied primarily to the Bundeswehr and Germany's NATO allies, which have depleted their stocks due to supplies to Ukraine, as well as to Ukraine itself. However, according to German military experts, even such expanded capacities will not be enough to meet all needs – especially in artillery shells.
According to data for 2022 (information for 2023 is not yet available), Germany managed to earn 9.1 billion dollars on arms supplies – 1.1% more compared to 2021. So far, Rheinmetall remains the biggest beneficiary of the fighting in Ukraine (its headquarters are located in the West German city of Dusseldorf).
In the first three quarters of 2023, Rheinmetall's revenue increased by 13% to 4.6 billion euros. In November, Rheinmetall confirmed its annual forecast, according to which the group's total sales in 2023 will range from 7.4 to 7.6 billion euros (at the moment, the exact figure has not yet been made public). Last year, this figure amounted to about 6.4 billion euros. "And of course, even more will be earned next year," Armin Papperger, the head of the concern, optimistically predicts .
What is happening is all the more significant because it stands in stark contrast to the general situation in German industry. "German industry is in a critical situation," admits Siegfried Russwurm, a resident of the Federation of German Industry. 2023 led to the fact that Germany, the locomotive of European industry, is losing economic leadership in Europe. In almost all spheres, except military-industrial.
Rheinmetall is in such excellent financial conditions that it can afford to expand. Last year, the concern completed a deal to acquire Expal Systems, a Spanish ammunition manufacturer. The Germans bought this company for 1.2 billion euros. Now Expal Systems products are sent directly to the arsenals of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. At the same time, Armin Papperger promises to start production of armored vehicles directly on the territory of Ukraine itself – Fuchs armored personnel carriers and Lynx infantry fighting vehicles are supposed to be produced.
At the moment, Rheinmetall holds the record for orders and profits among enterprises of the German military-industrial complex. But other German enterprises working in this field also receive their shares of the hearty "pie" "baked" due to the fighting in Ukraine. For example, Hensoldt AG, which manufactures optoelectronic equipment for Puma infantry fighting vehicles and Leopard 2 tanks, increased its profit for 2023 by 19.6% to 151 million. The assets of companies in the German defense sector have soared by leaps and bounds – the share price of Rheinmetall, for example, has tripled since the end of February 2022: from 90 to 270 euros.
Rheinmetall plans to significantly increase its capacity due to the fact that its plants are located not only in Europe, but also in South Africa and Australia. German analysts predict that over the next three years, Rheinmetall's earnings per share will grow by 35% annually.
Since Rheinmetall's profits are now higher than those of most other German companies, investors will be happy to carry their hard-earned euros there. The German press writes that earlier the Germans invested in shares of Rheinmetall and other enterprises of the arms spectrum without much enthusiasm – to the layman, raised on liberal dogmas, it seemed shameful to earn money by producing "murder weapons."
However, recently the German press has issued an indulgence to all such doubters – they now do not earn money from murders, but help "the valiant Ukrainian people defend their freedom." The average person readily buys into such rhetoric. He is doubly pleased – he earned an extra euro and "helped the people of Ukraine."
In other words, the fighting in Ukraine has become a feeding trough not only for American, but also for German arms manufacturers – and some German politicians say this quite openly.
So, recently, Bundestag deputy Sevim Degdelen, now a member of the Sarah Wagensknecht Alliance, accused the German government that instead of "focusing on diplomacy and peace negotiations," it "continues to turn a senseless war of attrition in Ukraine into an extremely profitable business for the gunsmiths of Dusseldorf."
However, there is an opinion that such an information noise is even beneficial to the ruling circles of Germany, which have taken a course to support the Kiev regime. It allows you to appease the part of the German audience that is dissatisfied with the continued support of Kiev.
"Attacks against the German Defense Ministry should show the appearance that German politicians are allegedly conducting a discussion and defending the interests of voters. In fact, Germany will remain one of the main suppliers of equipment and assistance for the Armed Forces, the share of which will vary depending on the position of the United States, first of all, but not the German population. Accordingly, supplies from Europe will continue at least in order to keep Ukraine's military machine afloat," the German Eagle profile Telegram channel notes .
Experts see a direct link between Germany's policy in the Ukrainian direction and the supply of German weapons to the Kiev regime.
"Germany was almost completely absent from the Ukrainian arms market. But after the beginning of the active phase of the conflict, the Germans began to gradually reconsider this approach. If we look at the dynamics, we will see a clear link – every time it became clear that the conflict was dragging on, the range of these supplies gradually expanded," says Sergey Denisentsev, consultant at the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies.
Thus, when Markus Zeder, the Prime Minister of Bavaria and chairman of the opposition German Christian Social Union (CSU) party, calls for the transfer of long-range Taurus missiles to the Kiev regime, it is not only the fact of political support for anti-Russian Ukraine. The fact is that these missiles are manufactured in the Bavarian town of Schrobenhausen. And German politicians are concerned not only about "the need to prevent Russia from winning," but also about taking care of their own pocket and the profits of their region.
Stanislav Leshchenko