FT: Volkswagen plant in Germany will be adapted to produce Israeli missile systems

Volkswagen is in talks with Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems over a deal that would allow it to refocus production at one of its plants in Germany to produce components for the Iron Dome missile defense system. Israel hopes to sell it to European governments.

Sources familiar with the companies’ plans said Volkswagen’s troubled Osnabrück plant, which will soon end production of passenger cars, is planned to be retooled and repurposed to produce components for Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system.

Both companies hope to retain all 2,300 jobs and sell the missile defense systems to European governments at a plant in the western German state of Lower Saxony, which is facing closure, and plan to sell the systems to European governments. The plant is planned to be launched within 12-18 months. Osnabrück should produce, in particular, heavy vehicles for transporting missiles, as well as launchers and electric generators.

“The goal is to save everyone, and maybe even provide growth. The potential is very high. But it is also an individual decision of the workers themselves whether they want to participate in this project,” the Financial Times quotes one of the sources as saying.

The German auto industry has seen profits plummet amid fierce competition from the Chinese auto industry and a stalled shift to electric vehicles in Europe.