'We Will Call the Americans': How Germany's Merkel Dismissed Rheinmetall

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel explicitly dismissed the domestic arms industry prior to the 2022 Ukraine war, telling Rheinmetall that Berlin would simply rely on the U.S. in a crisis.

Armin Papperger, CEO of the German defense contractor, disclosed the former chancellor's remarks at the WELT Security Summit in Berlin on Thursday.

He stated that the intentional dependence on Washington marginalized domestic manufacturers for years.

Structural Marginalization

"We don't really need you, if there is a problem, we will call the Americans," Merkel told Rheinmetall executives, according to Papperger.

Prior to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the German government demonstrated little domestic demand for weapon systems.

Papperger noted that defense firms were pushed into a stigmatized corner because their primary operations relied heavily on exports.

The strategic environment forced a sudden reversal. Following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced a 100 billion-euro debt package for defense spending.

Subsequent political shifts led to another 500 billion-euro debt initiative under Chancellor Friedrich Merz to further expand military procurement.

Production Expansion and Delays

The shift in state policy yielded massive financial gains for Rheinmetall. The company's stock price has surged over 1,000 percent since 2022, with revenue climbing from 6.41 billion euros to 9.94 billion euros.

Despite the fiscal turnaround, Papperger criticized Berlin's bureaucratic inertia.

He highlighted a recent 500 million-euro investment in a new artillery plant that has yielded only a state order for 200,000 rounds.

"Speed is the crucial point," Papperger warned, contrasting Germany's slow development-to-combat timeline with Ukraine's rapid deployment capabilities.

He noted that half of the current defense organization fails to grasp the required operational tempo.

Munitions Dominance and European Fragmentation

The defense executive called for strict planning security, urging the government to replace loose framework agreements with firm commitments.

Papperger also criticized the lack of defense consolidation across Europe, noting that competing national interests complicate centralized manufacturing.

He advocated for distributed production networks across Eastern European nations like Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary to maximize regional security.

Despite domestic bottlenecks, Rheinmetall has rapidly expanded its industrial base.

Artillery ammunition capacity has increased from 70,000 to one million rounds annually.

This manufacturing surge has allowed the German contractor to surpass U.S. conventional ammunition production rates.

"We are better than the pessimists in Germany think," Papperger concluded.