In Germany Today, Everyone Is a Defense Manufacturer

Not long ago, Germany’s industrial self-image was built around cars, chemicals, and precision machinery. Today, a different picture is emerging—one shaped by artillery shells, armored vehicles, drones, and military logistics. Across the country, companies with no historical ties to weapons production are retooling factories, retraining workers, and rebranding themselves as defense suppliers. The phrase increasingly heard in Berlin’s industrial circles is blunt and revealing: everyone is a defense manufacturer now.

This transformation marks one of the most profound shifts in Germany’s post-war economic and political identity. A nation that spent decades restraining its military ambitions is now mobilizing its entire industrial ecosystem for defense.

From Pacifism to Production Lines

The catalyst was geopolitical shock. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 shattered long-standing assumptions about European security and forced Berlin to confront uncomfortable realities. Chancellor Olaf Scholz declared a Zeitenwende—a historic turning point—pledging massive increases in defense spending and a fundamental rethink of Germany’s role in Europe and NATO.

What followed was not just a budgetary shift but an industrial one. Germany committed hundreds of billions of euros over the coming decade to defense and security. That money had to go somewhere—and fast. Traditional defense contractors alone could not meet demand. The solution was to pull civilian industry into the defense orbit.

Factories that once produced rail components now manufacture armored vehicle parts. Mechanical engineering firms pivot toward weapons systems. Electronics companies adapt civilian sensors for battlefield use. Even companies that once made automated kitchen equipment are now bidding on military contracts.

As one manufacturing executive put it, with notable understatement: “The defense industry is probably not the first use case when you think about food.” Yet here they are.

A State-Driven Industrial Mobilization

This shift is not happening organically. It is being orchestrated.

Germany’s Ministries of Defense and Economy have launched coordinated efforts to integrate civilian manufacturers into military supply chains. In closed-door meetings and formal industry dialogues, officials have encouraged companies to identify how their technologies—materials, software, engines, logistics—can be adapted for defense purposes.

The message is clear: defense is no longer a niche sector. It is a national priority.

The country’s main defense industry association has seen its membership swell as firms previously focused on civilian markets seek entry into military production. What once carried reputational risk now carries political backing and financial incentive. In today’s Germany, not participating in defense manufacturing can look like a strategic miscalculation.

The Economics of Rearmament

Germany’s industrial pivot is also driven by economic necessity. The country’s export-oriented model has come under pressure from slowing global demand, rising energy costs, and increasing competition from China and the United States. Defense spending offers a rare combination of long-term contracts, government guarantees, and political urgency.

For struggling regions, especially former industrial heartlands, defense manufacturing has become a lifeline. Regional leaders openly frame arms production as job creation policy. In areas hit by factory closures and declining automotive output, defense contracts promise stability, investment, and skilled employment.

This is not accidental. Defense manufacturing absorbs highly trained labor, sustains supply chains, and justifies large-scale capital investment. For policymakers facing voter anxiety over economic decline, the defense sector offers something tangible.

Rheinmetall and the New Scale of War Production

Nowhere is the transformation more visible than in ammunition production. Germany has dramatically expanded domestic shell manufacturing, responding to the demands of Ukraine’s war and NATO’s depleted stockpiles. New plants are being built, existing ones expanded, with production targets reaching levels not seen since the Cold War.

Executives speak openly about producing hundreds of thousands of artillery shells annually, scaling up to over a million in the coming years. This is industrial warfare planning—not abstract policy.

The scale of this effort reveals a deeper truth: Germany no longer assumes peace as the default condition. Its industrial planning now reflects a world of sustained conflict and long-term military readiness.

Dual-Use Technology and the Blurring Line

A defining feature of Germany’s defense expansion is the emphasis on dual-use technology—products and systems that serve both civilian and military purposes. Artificial intelligence, robotics, cybersecurity, sensors, autonomous vehicles, and advanced materials all sit at this intersection.

Industry advocates argue that defense investment accelerates innovation across the economy. Technologies developed for military use often migrate into civilian applications, strengthening competitiveness. Critics counter that the reverse is now happening—civilian innovation is being subordinated to military priorities.

The line between civilian industry and military production is increasingly blurred. That ambiguity is intentional.

Public Opinion: Reluctance Gives Way to Acceptance

Perhaps the most striking change is cultural. For decades, Germany’s public remained deeply skeptical of military expansion. That resistance has softened. Polls show rising support for higher defense spending, driven by fear of instability, war in Europe, and doubts about long-term U.S. security guarantees.

Defense is no longer framed as militarism, but as responsibility.

This shift has lowered political barriers for industrial mobilization. What once required moral justification now requires only logistical planning.

The Risks Behind the Momentum

Yet the speed of this transformation raises difficult questions. Critics warn of over-reliance on defense spending as an economic strategy. Defense contracts can distort markets, concentrate power, and lock governments into long-term commitments that are difficult to unwind.

There is also the ethical dimension. As more companies profit from conflict-driven demand, Germany risks normalizing war as an economic engine. The fact that kitchen equipment manufacturers and automotive suppliers now depend on military orders is not merely a technical shift—it is a societal one.

Some executives privately express concern about volatility. Defense production requires heavy upfront investment, long lead times, and political consistency. Without guaranteed long-term orders, companies risk being left with specialized facilities and shrinking civilian markets.

A New Industrial Identity

Germany is not becoming a militarized state in the classical sense. But it is becoming something different: a country where defense production is embedded across the economy, normalized within industrial strategy, and justified as both security policy and economic renewal.

When nearly every sector can trace a path into defense manufacturing, the label loses its exclusivity—and gains its power.

Whether this model proves sustainable will depend on geopolitics, political will, and public tolerance for a permanently armed economy. What is certain is that Germany has crossed a threshold. The idea that defense manufacturing is exceptional no longer holds.

In today’s Germany, it is becoming the rule.