It seems like my post about Europas F-35-Sicherheitsdilemma could not have come at a better time:

Dependence on US armaments is increasingly perceived as a risk factor for Europe's military and security sovereignty and is now being publicly addressed at the highest political level faster than I would have expected.

Hello everyone, the last few days there has been a lot of talk here about the new European Defense ETF. Now the Rheinmetall CEO is talking about the fact that the US defense industry is indispensable.

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According to Papperger, CEO of Rheinmetall, Europe cannot currently replace the USA in the defense sector. Papperger spoke out in favor of continuing the transatlantic partnership in the field of armaments as well.

13.03.2025

Speaking on Deutschlandfunk radio, the Rheinmetall CEO said that the USA has very special technologies in the field of weapons technology that Europe does not have at the moment. Complete independence from the USA would cost Europe a great deal. He did not believe that politicians wanted that. Papperger advocated seeking talks with US President Trump. He asked: "Do we really want to destroy the transatlantic partnership?" That is not possible. The USA is currently the leading nation in the world and we need to find sensible ways of dealing with it.

Turnover up 36 percent, profit increases by 61 percent

Rheinmetall manufactures tanks, artillery, military trucks, air defense systems, drones and ammunition. The company now generates 80 percent of its consolidated sales with military goods; business as an automotive supplier is becoming less important. The Group presented its corporate figures for the past year yesterday in Düsseldorf. According to the figures, turnover increased by 36 percent to around 9.8 billion euros. Profits increased by 61 percent to around 1.5 billion euros, the highest level in the company's history.

https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/usa-haben-technologien-die-europa-nicht-hat-rheinmetall-chef-setzt-sich-fuer-transatlantische-partne-100.html

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