Arms exports won’t save Germany’s defense industry

Higher arms exports will not save the German arms industry but will lead to its demise in the long run, argues Philipp Dienstbier in an article for ZEIT Online (in German). Today’s global over-supply of defense goods is forcing German exporters to offer technology transfers on top of their products in order to stay competitive. This is inadvertently building up new foreign competitors, which will hurt German firms in the long run. To halt this, Germany must look to a consolidation of the industry and joint procurement with European partners.