2024-04-04 06:38:55
European countries need to create large specialized military-industrial groups to compete with US competitors.
As Day.Az reports with reference to TASS, this was stated by the head of the German defense concern Rheinmetall Armin Papperger in an interview with the Financial Times newspaper.
“We need such large companies in Europe,” specializing in various military technologies, the publication’s interlocutor noted.
Efforts by EU leaders to strengthen defense cooperation, as the FT emphasizes, “have reached a dead end due to the fragmentation of the industry.” European arms companies “compete with each other, military budgets are controlled at the national level, and individual countries strive to maintain control of strategic supply chains, factories, jobs and technological advantages,” the publication said.
This process, according to Papperger, is accompanied by “the most difficult discussion that is taking place at the government level.” Earlier, the head of Rheinmetall called on EU states to work together to create an Iron Dome-type missile defense system in Israel.
Rheinmetall is Germany’s largest defense company. In terms of the number of military equipment and ammunition produced, Rheinmetall is considered one of the three largest corporations in the West. Since the beginning of Russia’s special operation in Ukraine, the company’s stock price has more than doubled. In particular, it is a supplier of military equipment to Kyiv, including air defense systems, tanks and armored personnel carriers.
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