German defense industry gets second breath amid ongoing war - media

That’s according to Bloomberg, Ukrinform reports.

Three days into the invasion in February 2022, at an emergency parliament session, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced what he called a “Zeitenwende,” or a turning point, article reminds.

Then the country dropped its long-standing ban on sending weapons to conflict zones to help Kyiv, and a special fund worth EUR 100 billion was set up to modernize the Bundeswehr's military equipment.

Germany has finally heeded international calls to meet NATO's defense spending target of 2% of GDP.

Since then, production has increased, and the shares of German defense companies have gone up in price.

In particular, Rheinmetall shares have nearly tripled, pushing its market value above EUR 10 billion. On March 16, the company reported record profits and a huge order package worth EUR 26.6 billion.

In February, Hensoldt reported a record order volume of EUR 5.4 billion, saying that Russian aggression had restored demand for an efficient defense industry.

Paradoxically, the focus on what was initially perceived as Berlin's reluctance in delivering heavy military equipment to Ukraine has highlighted the quality and efficiency of this hardware on the battlefield.

Thus, the IRIS-T anti-aircraft system received praise from Ukraine’s Air Force of Ukraine for 100 percent success in hitting targets. The Gepard anti-aircraft system also saw positive reviews for its ability to shoot down Iranian-made Shahed kamikaze drones. The Panzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled howitzer has earned a reputation as one of the most powerful and fastest installations in its class.

As reported with reference to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, in 2022 Germany was the world’s sixth-largest arms exporters, behind the U.S., France, Russia, China, and Italy.