The influence of the security and defense industry (“SVI”) on the German economy — To what extent can private capital contribute to deterrence?

The peace divi­dend has been used up — one of the most popu­lar head­lines in the Euro­pean media at the moment. There is no alter­na­tive to grea­ter invest­ment in dual-use and KRITIS (criti­cal infra­struc­ture). Other­wise, Western demo­cra­cies risk losing their sovereignty. 

The peace divi­dend has been used up: Europe must massi­vely increase its defense and secu­rity spen­ding in order to secure sove­reig­nty and deter­rence capa­bi­li­ties. The German secu­rity and defense indus­try is evol­ving from a long-negle­c­­ted niche to a poten­tial growth engine that can parti­ally offset decli­nes in the auto­mo­tive sector — driven by higher defense budgets, dual-use appli­ca­ti­ons and invest­ments in criti­cal infra­struc­ture. Private capi­tal plays a key role in meeting the enorm­ous finan­cing needs and buil­ding a new ecosys­tem of SVI, dual-use and KRITIS compa­nies that combine secu­rity, employ­ment and tech­no­lo­gi­cal competitiveness.