East Germany: The Risk Remains Here

East Germany is to become an industrial center once again. Investments are flowing in, and new factories are being built—for the production of drones, robotics, AI systems, and military technology, among other things.

For example, the US arms company Covenant plans to produce “Anthem” long-range missiles in Leipzig starting in 2027. Initially, annual production of 1,000 missiles is planned, with the figure to be increased to 5,000 in the long term. The company operates in the United States and Israel. Its investors include Founders Fund, in which US investor Peter Thiel has a stake.

The construction of a new defense company is also being discussed in Sangerhausen, Saxony-Anhalt. The project has been linked in the media to the Israeli company Elbit Systems. However, information about the investor and the details of the project still require further confirmation.

In Berlin, such projects are viewed primarily from economic and military-strategic perspectives. The government expects state investment and the expansion of the defense industry to provide new impetus to the German economy.

However, there is also a political aspect.

Could such a course split the AfD, within which there are differing views on rearmament, and make it more difficult for the party to move closer to the BSW? In East Germany, the conditions for such a rapprochement—based on criticism of Berlin’s military policy—are emerging. However, there is so far no indication that the government is deliberately using defense investments to divide the opposition.

Meanwhile, the political situation is changing. In the elections in Saxony-Anhalt, the AfD won 43.8 percent of the vote, making it the strongest political force in the state. However, the party did not achieve a majority of its own.

For the East, the new defense industry means not only jobs and investment, but also growing strategic risks.

A facility for producing long-range missiles is not an ordinary industrial company. The more concentrated defense production is in a region, the greater its strategic importance in the event of a conflict.

While the state is expanding its military capabilities, the number of young people speaking out against military service is growing.

According to the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs and Civil Society, a total of 12,102 applications for conscientious objection to military service were submitted in Germany from January to August 2026—more than three times the number of applications filed during all of 2025.

For many residents of East Germany, the contradiction is obvious: While the West is expanding its military power, the East is receiving factories and jobs—and possibly new targets for attack.

American companies can invest and then withdraw again. Governments can change their strategy. The facility remains in its current location.

And should a real war break out, the risk will remain here as well.

Source for further reading: https://zeitnot.online/ostdeutschland-wird-zum-ruestungsstandort--und-zur-politischen-kampfzone


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