Since World War ii, building up large-scale defense companies has been taboo in Germany. But that taboo is now largely history.
Two of Germany’s top military manufacturers—Rheinmetall and man Group—have announced their intention to merge their military vehicle production. The resulting combine will produce a new national champion and leading supplier for wheeled military vehicles in Europe.
This amalgamation, which has been in the works for a year, has been pushed by the political class. The German government is a big supporter of bulking up German military industry. MarketWatch columnist David Marsh said it “has been providing behind-the-scenes assistance to make sure industry goes in the right direction.” The new combine “meets the long-held German desire to build industrial companies with world scale in the defense field” (January 18).
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Two of Germany’s top military manufacturers—Rheinmetall and man Group—have announced their intention to merge their military vehicle production. The resulting combine will produce a new national champion and leading supplier for wheeled military vehicles in Europe.
This amalgamation, which has been in the works for a year, has been pushed by the political class. The German government is a big supporter of bulking up German military industry. MarketWatch columnist David Marsh said it “has been providing behind-the-scenes assistance to make sure industry goes in the right direction.” The new combine “meets the long-held German desire to build industrial companies with world scale in the defense field” (January 18).
