Berlin’s defence push draws global groups to set up shop in Germany

{"text":[[{"start":6.48,"text":"Germany is becoming a magnet for international defence groups as Berlin’s military spending boom prompts companies from around the world to establish a presence in the country."}],[{"start":16.5,"text":"Aerospace and defence companies from Europe and beyond have set up offices in Germany over the past 12 months, including the Norwegian space group Kongsberg, the Finnish satellite intelligence start-up Iceye and the South Korean defence giant Hanwha Aerospace."}],[{"start":32.18,"text":"Australia’s Electro Optic Systems, which makes high-precision lasers that can neutralise hostile drones and engage in space warfare, plans to go a step further by relocating its headquarters from Canberra to Europe."}],[{"start":43.76,"text":"“All the significant future budget increases in defence will happen in Europe, because of geopolitics,” chief executive Andreas Schwer told the FT. “We strongly intend to move our headquarters from Australia to central Europe. We have not decided upon the final destination, but among different options the Netherlands and Germany are quite likely candidates.”"}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":64.68,"text":"Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has triggered a significant change in Germany’s approach to its military, after decades when the country spent as little as 1 per cent of GDP on defence."}],[{"start":77,"text":"Chancellor Friedrich Merz exempted defence from Germany’s strict rules on borrowing after winning elections last year, as he pledged to make the Bundeswehr the strongest conventional army in Europe. The EU’s most populous country has since budgeted more than €700bn for defence over the coming five years — a figure that has caught the attention of global defence firms."}],[{"start":97.84,"text":"“Everybody wants a piece of the pie,” said Nils Lange, project manager in the Berlin office of advisory firm Rasmussen Global, which works with international companies on navigating the German market."}],[{"start":108.96,"text":"“Germany has suddenly become an interesting market, not just for selling to the German armed forces, but also as a defence-industrial hub for the rest of Europe.”"}],[{"start":118.08,"text":"Alex Wong, global chief strategy officer at Hanwha Group, said that his company put an office in Germany because the scale of the opportunity “required a permanent presence [and] required us to hire individuals very familiar with the German defence market to push the strategy forward”."}],[{"start":134.3,"text":"The trend of establishing a local footprint was also part of a broader pattern worldwide that had seen governments pushing for more “localisation and domestication” to reduce the risk that conflict or geopolitical tension could jeopardise access to crucial weapons, he added."}],[{"start":149.36,"text":"While Hanwha had long exported to international markets, Wong said, it was now getting inquiries to move its capacity to locations around the world “so we can begin to speed up production for allies and partners”."}],[{"start":160.84,"text":"Lange said that German officials preferred, when possible, not to procure entire systems — such as tanks or warships — from non-European companies that competed with German industry."}],[{"start":171.16,"text":"But he said that they were open to foreign companies being “plugged into the supply chains of established manufacturers here” to help ease capacity challenges."}],[{"start":179.48,"text":"Foreign companies can also tap the booming German market through joint ventures. Rheinmetall, the German tank and ammunition maker, has signed a flurry of deals with international groups to offer foreign technology combined with local production and political knowhow."}],[{"start":193.8,"text":"They include a plan to make low-cost cruise missiles with the Dutch start-up Destinus and medium- and long-range air defence with South Korea’s LIG Defense & Aerospace, as well as a partnership with US-based satellite imagery provider Vantor. Rheinmetall has also paired up with the Australian division of Boeing to offer an unmanned fighter aircraft made by the US aviation giant to the German air force."}],[{"start":220.28,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1787726309_9109.mp3"}