The old pecking order in the global defense industry no longer applies.

Thanks to defense budgets in the hundreds of billions, US manufacturers have dominated the list of the world's largest arms manufacturers for years.

However, the competition in the East is catching up.

First and foremost Russia, which is waging a brutal war of aggression against Ukraine and, according to President Putin, is upgrading the army "without financial restrictions".

In addition, Saudi Arabia and Turkey are working flat out on their own state-owned companies.

China and South Korea have had such armaments giants for a long time.

Their sales growth of seven percent a year is a cause for concern simply because tensions are growing in Asia.

Europe's armaments industry is clearly lagging behind in an international comparison.

Thanks to its thriving US business, the British BAE Systems ranks sixth among the 100 largest weapons manufacturers.

The German industry giants Airbus Defense and Rheinmetall, on the other hand, rank under “also ran”.

If the federal government has its way, that should change.

At the latest after Russia's attack, the European NATO partners are obliged to increase their military efforts and thus ensure the defense capability of Western democracies.

But few actions have followed the words of Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

The Bundeswehr did not adapt to the new security situation in Europe, which focuses on the use of land forces, nor did the reform of a procurement authority that fulfills the special technical requests of the troops and struggles with a wealth of bureaucratic regulations.

Exaggerated claims of the military

Despite this inertia in politics, the outfitters of the Bundeswehr are well advised to arm themselves for the conversion to a modern military economy.

This includes the shift to mass production and the ambition to dismantle the bewildering variety of weapon systems in Europe under our own steam.

If there is no push for more efficiency, the special fund of 100 billion euros approved for the Bundeswehr threatens to seep away.

The turning point marks the turning point for a sector that led its own life within German industry because it was exposed to political arbitrariness and bureaucratic constraints like hardly any other.

A stronger focus on the civilian sector is particularly obvious for armaments manufacturers with a view to the supply of semiconductors, rare raw materials or skilled workers.

Weapons are now being replaced and equipment gaps filled with fresh money from the special fund.

But billions more have to flow if the Bundeswehr is to meet the NATO standards of the French or British armed forces in the long term.

Finally, the austerity measures that began at the end of the Cold War led to a drastic reduction in the number of fighter jets, tanks and warships.

Even these remaining items in the arsenal are not ready for use today because spare parts are missing for cost reasons, maintenance contracts have been canceled or ammunition depots have been cleared.

At that time, the outfitters geared themselves to the dwindling orders from the military by throttling their capacities.

Many dwindled to small-batch manufacturers specializing in high-tech weapons.

Exaggerated claims by the military led to overpriced solutions and technical overload, as the misery with the Puma infantry fighting vehicle shows.

The boost in orders from the Bundeswehr and the need to supply more weapons to Ukraine are forcing the specialists to turn into large-scale manufacturers.

In order to remedy the lack of ammunition, for example, Rheinmetall wants to expand its German plant and buy a competitor in Spain.

Other manufacturers are reacting in a similar way by expanding shift work and exploring cooperation with civilian partners.

However, that is not enough.

In order to supply NATO neighbors with weapons and material, European solutions are essential, even if national interests often slow down implementation.

Only after a tough struggle did the French aircraft manufacturer Dassault and Airbus Defense agree on a preliminary stage for the construction of the European fighter jet program FCAS.

Previously, tank manufacturer KMW teamed up with French counterpart Nexter to build a successor to the Leopard-2 main battle tank.

The way to Europe is also clear for the marine outfitters.

The German submarine manufacturer TKMS recently explored a partnership with Italy's shipyard Fincantieri.

So far, the execution is still pending.