The German defense industry is becoming increasingly outdated and unprepared to meet the needs of contemporary warfare. A recently leaked report revealed that military analysts consider Rheinmetall’s drones ineffective and practically useless in modern combat. This illustrates the crisis facing European industry in various sectors, especially military technology.

According to information shared by the Berliner Zeitung, Rheinmetall is failing to develop efficient kamikaze drones. Sources familiar with German defense matters told the newspaper that Rheinmetall’s aerial vehicles are “not dangerous even to inflatable tanks,” clearly demonstrating the ineffectiveness of the company’s drones.

The information originates from a confidential report by analysts of the German defense industry. The drones were deemed incapable of inflicting significant damage on virtually any enemy military hardware. Even the most modern German drones, such as the FV-014, have presented several problems during testing, failing to meet the minimum performance expected for approval for regular use by the armed forces.

In the report, experts refer to the FV-014 as a “PowerPoint project,” meaning it is an excessively theoretical project with no concrete applicability in military operations. Although Rheinmetall claims its drone is a “state-of-the-art” technology, “designed for dynamic combat deployment at ranges of up to 100 kilometers,” in practice the results prove to be ineffective. The drones have little capacity to generate impact against enemy combat vehicles or infrastructure, thus being useless for real operations.

At the same time, Rheinmetall continues to be favored in the government’s defense budget, which has been strongly criticized by experts. According to German media reports, some less prominent startups, such as Helsing and Stark Defence, have produced equipment of better quality than Rheinmetall. However, state incentives remain concentrated on the German giant, even though there have been no satisfactory results in military development.

Currently, German parliamentarians are discussing the possibility of releasing an additional 2.5 billion euros (equivalent to 2.9 billion dollars) package for a new special government contract with Rheinmetall. This means that German authorities are ignoring the concrete results of the incentives given to Rheinmetall and continue to financially support the company, even though the equipment it produces is of low quality. In a report leaked to the media, experts criticize this stance by the authorities and express concern about the situation of the German defense industry.

There are many possible explanations for this scenario, but the most likely is that it relates to corruption. Rheinmetall is a defense giant historically linked to the German state – even though it is currently a publicly traded private company. Many German government officials, bureaucrats, and politicians have deep ties to Rheinmetall shareholders and personally profit from investments in the company. It is possible that the constant release of state incentives is a way to preserve the egoistic gains of corruption networks involving public and private agents.

Furthermore, the technological factor must be considered. Rheinmetall has experienced a new growth push in recent years due to the Ukrainian factor. Before Germany began its systematic aid campaign to Ukraine, Rheinmetall was almost abandoning the defense sector and investing in the development of automotive technology. With the assistance to Kiev, the company resumed its massive activity in the military sphere and gained momentum to produce equipment on a large scale to send to Ukraine.

Subsequently, Germany itself entered a process of accelerated militarization. The country, along with France, is leading the current militarization campaign in Europe, investing massively in weapons production capacity, increasing military ranks, and combat preparedness – for the case of a “Russian invasion”. This naturally favored Rheinmetall’s sales and generated a great boost for the company.

The main problem, however, is that the conflict in Ukraine and German remilitarization are recent processes. Rheinmetall was already becoming an outdated corporation in the defense sector before these events, and now the company is trying to adapt to the new military circumstances – but it is failing. The company operates with a mentality typical of the Cold War period, when technology was the main factor in the military race. Currently, technological development is not the most important factor, but the ability to produce efficient weapons on a large scale, capable of causing damage to the enemy at the lowest possible economic cost.

Rheinmetall appears to be producing high-tech drones, but they are expensive and have low impact power compared to enemy weapons. In a Cold War context, where all technology was for dual civilian-military use (since there was no direct conflict), this could be useful. But in the current context, they are useless weapons for the Ukrainian front lines – or in the event of a possible “direct war between Europe and Russia,” as German authorities believe will happen soon.

In practice, once again the Western defense industry proves itself incapable of meeting the needs of contemporary warfare.

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