Saxony: Future in the armaments industry - opportunities and challenges!

Saxony: Future in the armaments industry - opportunities and challenges!

In Saxony, it rumbles a lot when it comes to the spiced -up defense spending in Germany. The "Sächsische Zeitung" reports that Saxony is disadvantaged by the special fund for the Bundeswehr of proud 100 billion euros. While 20 billion euros were awarded for various orders in the previous year, Saxony was only able to record 0.3 percent of them. That would only be 73 million euros from 25 contracts with Saxon main customers. In the past, there were hardly any feedback from other East German federal states, which does not make the situation easier.

But there is optimism in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry: IHK President Andreas Sperl emphasizes that Saxony has a lot of potential to gain a foothold in the armaments industry and create new jobs. The Free State could be an innovation engine-after all, the special for the Bundeswehr should not remain unused, one says in the chamber. A meeting in autumn is intended to bring together actors and to lead a realistic debate about the development of the armaments industry in Saxony, while you are actively looking for new opportunities Saechsische.de .

military projects in focus

The artificial model city "Schnöggersburg" in Saxony-Anhalt stands out among the planned military projects. This is considered the greatest of its kind in Europe. The military -historical museum in Dresden and the army officers' school should also help promote military training and interest in the history of the Bundeswehr. Not to be forgotten is the new location for the "Logistics Battalion 471" in Bernsdorf, where around 700 Bundeswehr members and 100 civil workers will work. The wagon construction in Görlitz is also taken over by the armaments group KNDS, which will produce assembly armor Leopard 2 and Schützerpanzer Puma from 2026. In addition, on the outskirts of Dresden in a startup on a drone in carbon light construction Friday.de .

it seems as if the industry is facing a turn. However, critics warn that there are big gaps between the Bundeswehr's needs and the actual orders. This ensures uncertainty among armaments companies that hesitate to invest in the necessary investments. Alexander Sagel, head of Renk, illustrates that economic investments require contracts and guarantees, while there are currently more participants than comprehensive orders. This applies especially against the background of the NATO summit in the Haag, where member countries plan a significant increase in their defense budgets Tagesschau.de .

Future of the armaments industry in Saxony

The armaments industry in Germany is heavily dependent on small series production, which is often considered inefficient. A rethink is required, the study by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy demands. Rafaela Kraus from the Bundeswehr University supports this demand and emphasizes that the existing engineering know-how should be better used. However, the path there is difficult by bureaucratic hurdles, as the position paper of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry for Munich and Upper Bavaria shows. Security checks that currently take eight to ten months should be accelerated in order to be able to react faster to the need.

It remains to be seen whether Saxony can make the breakthrough in the defense industry, because after all, there was a lot of potential. The will is available - now it depends on taking the necessary steps in order to become significant as a location for the armaments industry.