Overview

• Rheinmetall’s €200 million Weeze plant is complete and due to begin producing up to 36 F-35 fuselage sections annually, launching German participation in the stealth bomber supply chain.
• State-led procurements fueled by Germany’s €100 billion special fund and NATO’s 5% GDP target have pushed Rheinmetall’s order backlog to €62.6 billion by March 2025 and TKMS’s submarine book to €18 billion.
• Hensoldt’s electronic warfare and radar sales lifted revenue by 50% to €2.2 billion, and Dynamit Nobel Defence has delivered nearly 17,000 Matador anti-tank rockets to Ukraine.
• Missile and drone producers are scaling up as MBDA invests in Patriot and Eurofighter munitions production and Helsing secures €600 million to expand its HX-2 kamikaze UAV line.
• Germany’s 35-jet F-35 fleet will start arriving in 2026 to replace Tornados, complemented by recent orders for Chinook helicopters and the Arrow 3 air defense system.