Following the official protest of Ursula von der Leyen, the German Minister of Defense, regarding the unfavorable budgetary decisions of her ministry, the German media echoed programs that risked suffering from these restrictions.
First program concerned, the co-construction with Norway of an improved version of the Type212 submarine, of which Germany had committed to ordering 2 examples and financing 50% of the R&D costs. The consequences of such a decision would be disastrous for the German shipyards TKMS, which would not only lose a very important contract, but could also lose the benefits of the attempted merger with the Dutch Damen.
The second program identified by the German press is the common support base project for the implementation of the French and German C130s. The economic consequences would, obviously, be less significant. But the signal sent to Paris could very well undermine the various strategic partnerships in progress.
This is all the more true since the German opposition, and to a certain extent, the allies of Chancellor Merkel's SPD, do not hesitate to question the interest of a new generation French fighter project. -Germans, knowing that, without naming it, the F35 already exists.
In Germany as in France, the economic benefits of defense investment seem largely ignored by the political class...
