Olaf Scholz with Bundeswehr trainers, October 17, in Lower Saxony. RONNY HARTMANN/AFP
ANALYSIS – Berlin prefers “buy-off-the-shelf” American equipment to the detriment of European industry.
Pierre Avril is a correspondent in Berlin
An “anti-Putin” air shield, with Germany at the helm, alongside Israel and the US, but without France: the launch of Europe’s Sky Shield air defense project in mid-October is, in Paris eyes, the latest in a series of industrial affronts which he felt the Elysée needed to wipe away from its most important partner.
It’s been seven years since French Thales and European missile manufacturer MBDA worked with Italy to develop the Mamba medium-range missile defense system. The German Rheinmetall had also drummed up there as part of an order from Singapore. Since then perfected, Mamba has just been deployed in Romania as part of NATO’s integrated command.
In late August, Olaf Scholz torpedoed the initiative by announcing a second competing anti-missile shield project, two months after the German company Diehl unveiled its mobile surface-to-air missile, armed with a…
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