Multinational arms projects – The German arms export dilemma
Ole Henckel
The Eurofighter has become an object of debate. Great Britain wants to export the fighter jet to Saudi Arabia, Germany is rejecting this for the time being. The case is symptomatic of Germany's arms export policy, which is torn between cooperation and restriction. The case is correspondingly controversial in German politics, with the line of conflict also running through the traffic light coalition. ES&T interviewed defense politicians Johannes Arlt (SPD), Florian Hahn (CSU) and Alexander Müller (FDP) as well as defense politician Sara Nanni (Greens).
Armament projects are becoming increasingly expensive. European countries in particular are therefore trying to develop and procure particularly cost-intensive military equipment on a multinational basis. This spreads the investment costs, increases the production numbers of a system and thus reduces the unit price. An example is the German-French-Spanish project to develop a future combat air system (Future Combat Air System, FCAS) or the German-French project to develop a new ground combat system (Main Ground Combat System, MGCS).
As an alternative or in addition to multinational armaments programs, many countries export armaments in order to further increase production figures and thus increase profitability. Other goals, in addition to cost reduction and capacity utilization, also play a role in arms exports, such as establishing or maintaining strategic partnerships between states.
However, multinational arms programs also harbor the potential for conflict, especially when it comes to export issues. For example, if some states involved in the production of military equipment want to export them, but others do not, this leads to considerable tension in the partnership.
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