The CEO of Rheinmetall, Armin Papperger, has called on European countries to establish larger, more specialized defense companies that can compete with their United States (U.S.) rivals.
He emphasized that if Europe wants closer cooperation in the defense sector, countries must specialize in various types of military technology.
“It doesn’t make much sense if, for example, we choose the second or third-best technology just because one nation wants it. We need large companies in Europe,” he said in an interview.
According to him, if Donald Trump becomes President of the U.S., “the pressure will be greater” on Germany, but the race to rebuild the country’s military strength will continue regardless of who ends up in the White House.
“The U.S. is more focused on the Asia-Pacific region than on Europe. If a ‘very risky situation’ in the region were to trigger armed conflict on a full scale, the U.S. would focus on Asia, and then Europe would be completely alone,” said the CEO of Germany’s largest manufacturer of weapons and ammunition, Biznis Info writes.
E.Dz.
