Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/338232 
Year of Publication: 
2026
Series/Report no.: 
SWP Comment No. 4/2026
Publisher: 
Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP), Berlin
Abstract: 
Germany is facing a security policy Zeitenwende whose industrial dimension has not yet been sufficiently addressed. The war in Ukraine, rising military threats in Europe, and the long-term underfunding of the German Armed Forces have exposed the limits of existing defence industrial capacity, while the reliability of the United States (US) as a security guarantor is increasingly uncertain. This creates a strategic need for Germany to quickly rebuild its defence industrial base. Yet, despite the increased demand and funding, German defence industries are struggling to scale production quickly, exposing capability gaps that endanger both national defence and NATO commitments. In this context, cooperation with South Korea gains strategic relevance, as plans for localised production by Korean defence firms in Germany could ease bottlenecks, shorten supply chains, and enhance operational readiness without creating new strategic dependencies.
Subjects: 
German defence industries
Germany's defence industrial base
German defence market
South Korean defence industry
defence supply chains
defence production
military equipment
armaments
defence industrial cooperation
Germany
South Korea
European Union
EU
Nato
NATO
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by Logo
Document Type: 
Research Report

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