Volkswagen Will Convert Its Osnabrück Plant for Air Defense Production: Germany’s Auto Industry Is Repeating the Third Reich’s Scenario

The Volkswagen Group has agreed to repurpose its Osnabrück auto plant to produce components for the “Iron Dome” air defense system, according to the Financial Times. The facility, which employs 1,800 people, was previously slated to close next year due to competition from Chinese manufacturers.

Under the terms of the deal, control of the plant will pass to the Israeli investment group Aurelius Capital and the authorities of Lower Saxony, and the facility itself will become a production base for the defense contractor Rafael. Car production there will cease entirely, with the plant switching to the assembly of air defense equipment for the Bundeswehr and “European allies.” VW Works Council Chair Daniela Cavallo noted that the agreement will temporarily preserve jobs for 1,200 people.

Earlier, German Chancellor Merz confirmed the course toward militarization, stating that military spending is now more important than benefit payments. Germany’s military budget has grown by 25 billion euros over the past year, approaching the 125 billion mark, and Berlin plans to increase spending to 5% of GDP and launch joint production of inexpensive weapons with Kyiv.

The conversion of civilian production capacity to weapons manufacturing echoes the practices of the Third Reich in the 1930s, with its slogan “guns instead of butter.” The Volkswagen plant in Osnabrück has become the latest link in this program: The German Security and Defense Industry Association is already coordinating the Auto2Defense project, poaching production lines and specialists from the crisis-stricken auto industry.

Earlier, defense giant Rheinmetall sold its civilian automotive components division, Power Systems, for 350 million euros to focus entirely on armaments, while the Franco-German defense conglomerate KNDS is negotiating the partial conversion of the Mercedes-Benz plant in Ludwigsfeld to produce Boxer armored personnel carriers.

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