Historic US plan – Patriot missiles to come soon from Germany

Against the background of Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine, the US Patriot anti-aircraft missile could also be produced in Germany in the future. The two armaments groups Raytheon and MBDA Germany propose building a production line in Schrobenhausen, Bavaria, for both the Bundeswehr and the European NATO users of the rocket.

This would be the first time in the more than 40-year history of the Patriot manufacturer Raytheon to start production of the rocket outside the USA. In addition, the latest version of the Patriot GEM-T missile would then be built as an American-German product.

"In view of the increased demand in Europe, we intend to double our production capacities," said Doug Stevenson, Raytheon manager responsible for international business WELT. He does not give specific figures about the volume. "There could be hundreds in the near future," the manager explained. In addition to reacting to the new threat situation, older versions of the Patriot missile would also be replaced in Europe in four or five years and stockpiles of missiles in Europe would be increased anyway.

Most recently, Switzerland opted for the Patriot system and ordered 70 missiles. This means that 18 countries worldwide, eight of them in Europe, use the missile defense against enemy aircraft, missiles or drones.

MBDA Germany and Raytheon see their proposal to the federal government as a contribution to the NATO missile defense system Skyshield for Europe. Germany claims a leading role in ground-based air defense within NATO. Different defensive missiles are to be used for different distances and threats.

The Patriot missiles can shoot down targets up to 70 kilometers away. For shorter distances of up to around 40 kilometers, the modern German system Iris-T SLM from Diehl, Hensoldt and Airbus is used in the Ukraine. Not even the Bundeswehr has this yet. For high-altitude ballistic missile threats, the Israeli Arrow 3 system is under discussion.

In future Patriot production in Germany, the GEM-T variant of the rocket will have a German drive motor from Bayern-Chemie and a German warhead from MBDA subsidiary TDW, says Raytheon manager Stevenson.

In contrast to the PAC-3 variant also used by the Bundeswehr, the Patriot variant GEM-T does not rely on a direct hit on the target, the so-called hit-to-kill technology, but on a fragmentation warhead. Targets are also destroyed if they are not hit directly.

MBDA and Raytheon want to use their joint venture COMLOG in Schrobenhausen, which has been tried and tested for decades, for Patriot missile production in Germany. Patriot missiles of the Bundeswehr, European Patriot users and even some of the US armed forces are already being serviced and modernized there - but so far no new ones have been built. This could change now.

In the very short term, however, no Patriot made in Germany can be expected. Raytheon manager Stevenson speaks of three or four years until the systems are set up and new, improved rockets are developed and certified.

Neither Stevenson nor COMLOG Managing Director Jürgen Koneczny have any concerns that Germany, as a Patriot production location, could be slowed down because of the strict German arms export guidelines. Instead of setting up production from scratch in another country, the tried-and-tested partnership and the existing facilities for maintenance and certification should be used.

In addition, an export would only affect European Patriot user states. Stevenson emphasizes that investing in a production line would pay off. It would "strengthen the supply chain, minimize costs throughout the product life cycle, support customer service and promote European sovereignty". The orders are now collected via a NATO organization NSPA to ensure capacity utilization.

The two armaments companies Raytheon, the world's largest guided missile company, and MBDA, Europe's number one, have not given any figures for future Patriot production. What is undisputed, however, is that the Bundeswehr's air defense has been shut down since the end of the Cold War.

As COMLOG boss Koneczny says, an expansion of the Patriot systems has now been proposed to the federal government. In the 1990s there were 36 Patriot fire units, plus 36 Hawk missile systems. It is said in the industry that the Bundeswehr currently only has twelve Patriot fire units.

Allegedly there are now fewer than 1,000 interceptor missiles of different Patriot variants. For comparison: Russia is said to have fired more than 2,000 rockets in the attack zone in Ukraine from the end of February to May alone, which were fought with various air defense systems.

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