SPECULUM VERUM
Germany's largest armaments company, Rheinmetall, is rushing from record to record. On Thursday he gave his business figures for 2022 known, the first year of the Ukraine war. sales: 6,4 billion euro, more than ever. The operating result: three quarters of a billion euros, a record win. The order backlog also has 26,6 billion euros reached a record level. For the years to come, further growth at ever new highs is certain. This year, the second year of the Ukraine war, it should initially be a turnover of up to 7,6 billion euros. In den Dax, the index of 40 largest German stock corporation, the armourer from the Rhineland has only recently risen to the ranks. The end of the flagpole is, thanks to the war, far from achieved.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz opened up new profit prospects on Thursday, when he declared in the Bundestag, Ukraine must be supplied with as much ammunition as possible as quickly as possible. Rheinmetall has the necessary production capacities, is currently building them up or quickly buying them together in other countries. Particularly beneficial: The ammunition business is considered "high-margin" in the industry. That the Ukrainian armed forces are firing huge amounts of ammunition, increases profit even more. Apropos Ukraine: Rheinmetall has long used the country as a test site. It recently sent two Skyrangers there - turret superstructures, which can be mounted on tanks or trucks and which are intended to fend off kamikaze drones, for example. Prove to be successful, then the next profit driver is guaranteed: Because there will be no more wars without drones.
And then of course there were the main battle tanks. Rheinmetall wants to deliver a few examples of the "Panther" to the Ukraine, his latest model with the old Wehrmacht name. Even more: Rheinmetall wants to build an entire factory in Ukraine – with an output of up to 400 piece per year. Does the deal go through?, then Ukraine could build a tank fleet, whose strength would be rare.
Rheinmetall, in turn, would not only have secured further profits, but also won an important battle for the tank market. So far, the »Leopard« and the German manufacturers have dominated in Europe. However, their leadership position no longer seems secure: Poland is the first country in Europe to buy US »Abrams« tanks – 250 neu, 116 needed. Other states could follow. Poland also procures around 1.000 South Korean "K2 Black Panther" and wants to manufacture most of them in their own country in a few years - at a price, with which the »Leopard« probably cannot keep up. With a “Panther” factory in the Ukraine, however, Rheinmetall could once again take the lead in the European market – at the latest in the post-war period.
Plans, certainly, Napoleonic among the Germans, but such dances on the bones usually end badly, it would be better to think about your internal problems, of which they have plenty