Berlin Seeks US Arms Production in Germany to Woo Trump

Germany is pushing the U.S. to allow the manufacturing of more American weapons on German territory.

The effort is designed to plug Europe’s military capability gaps while giving U.S. President Donald Trump a compelling reason to remain invested in the continent’s defense.

German officials are asking their U.S. counterparts to agree to a co-production deal ahead of next week’s NATO summit in Ankara.

This push is part of a broader effort by European states to leverage their defense-industrial capacity to steady troubled relations with Washington.

Talks on joint production concepts bringing together German and U.S. industry are already ongoing. The discussions cover anything that would help both nations strengthen defense capabilities.

This includes the co-production of long-range Tomahawk missiles and PAC-3 interceptors, the most advanced missiles used by Patriot air-defense systems.

The U.S. response to these suggestions has been more positive than anticipated.

Industrial Pitch

German officials argue that the country’s large industrial base offers a mutually beneficial solution.

They believe building critical U.S. weapons in the EU’s largest economy would help Washington tackle capacity problems deepened by the war in Iran.

It would also help Germany obtain weapons more quickly as it races to re-arm in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

However, any decision to produce sensitive American technology overseas requires explicit consent from Washington.

Germany’s defense ministry noted that intensive cooperation between US and German defense companies already exists.

The ministry cited Rheinmetall’s production of fuselages for Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighter jets and a new MBDA-Raytheon facility to manufacture Patriot missiles.

Filling the Gaps

European officials hope to use the Ankara summit to build on a perceived improvement in transatlantic relations following the G7 meeting in Evian.

French President Emmanuel Macron described that meeting as a moment of new convergence between Americans and Europeans.

Berlin is currently leading European efforts to prepare memorandums of understanding and contracts for joint production at the NATO summit.

The push coincides with US defense contractors struggling with large order backlogs and component bottlenecks.

Berlin’s primary goal is to fill deterrence gaps that Washington may leave behind.

Germany is preparing for the possibility that the U.S. shifts military assets to the Indo-Pacific and the western hemisphere.