Filip Singer / EPA
Germany’s Chancellor, Friedrich Merz
Merz wants to create the strongest conventional army in Europe. Defense companies have been reactivating production lines that have been inactive for a long time, but the plan faces an unavoidable problem: dependence on raw materials from China.
Germany aims to become Europe’s main military power, but its aspirations are shaped by critical vulnerability: dependence on raw materials from China, essential to modern defense technology.
The country’s plan, promoted by the country’s new chancellor, the conservative politician Friedrich MerzIt provides for the creation of the “strongest conventional army in Europe”, backed by unprecedented defense spending that could ascend to hundreds of € billion by 2029.
Orders of tanks, missiles and ammunition are already increasing, with German defense companies reactivate production lines that had been inactive for a long time.
However, The basis of this rearmament is fragiletells the. Many advanced military systems depend on rare elementsas a neodymium and dysprosium, as well as tungsten, titanium, graphite and high purity magnesium.
These materials feed radars, missile orientation systems, thermal sights and drone engines, but Most are processed in China.
According to the Federation of German Industries (BDI), It imports 95% of its strategic raw materials, 90% from countries outside the EU.
China dominates global processing Of many of these minerals, controlling more than half of the general market and up to 86% in critical defense metals, such as gallium and Germanium. You Risks of supply interruption They are particularly elevated to advanced weaponry.
Eurofighter aircraft, for example, need titanium for fuselage and heat -resistant metals for the engines, while Rheinmetall tanks projectiles depend on tungsten nuclei.
China already previously restricted the export of critical materials For the West, causing delays in production and price increases.
Experts warn that even if current exports are maintained, the structural dependence persists throughout Europe and in the US, leaving the defense industries vulnerable.
While Washington created laws and reservations to protect your national supply chains, Brussels adopted a more flexible approach.
It defines goals, but is based on voluntary coordination between the Member Stateswithout a central application mechanism. German legislators increasingly argue that this approach is insufficient for national security.
Vanessa ZobelCDU MP in Bundestag, stresses that the dependence of Germany of imported raw materials threatens military credibility of the country, and defends the creation of national reserves, while proposing to reactivate domestic exploitation of lithium and other minerals, to ensure long -term resilience.
“Without safe supply chains, there can be no credible military dissuasion,” says Zobel, highlighting that the true strategic preparation requires structural solutions, not just temporarys.
Germany’s challenge is therefore simultaneously industrial and geopolitical. Their military leadership ambitions in Europe depend not only on unprecedented spending and modernization, but also access warranty to critical raw materials.
Experts warn that, without decisive national strategies, the country’s defense ambitions may remain vulnerable to external pressures, particularly in China – highlighting a growing intersection between Economics, Security and Global Policy.
