The competition authority (Monopolkommission) has warned the federal government about the risks of overpriced defense contracts, systemic procurement inefficiencies, and the increasing dominance of large corporations such as Rheinmetall.
Tomaso Duso, the head of the Monopolkommission, told the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” that he would have preferred less money to be spent, provided the government tried faster to find alternative solutions since these are taxpayer funds. He pointed out that the vast majority of defense expenditures are channeled into conventional systems supplied by major German defense firms, such as Rheinmetall, a situation that hinders innovation and competitiveness.
The authority also cautioned against developing new dependencies on only a handful of defense providers. Citing the US company SpaceX and its Starlink satellite network, economist Rupprecht Podszun noted that the founder and CEO, Elon Musk, could effectively control the defense readiness of entire nations. Podszun, who is both a member of the competition authority and director of the Institute for Cartel Law at the Heinrich-Heine University in Düsseldorf, argued that if a government is dependent on a defense contractor, it loses its ability to set demands, emphasizing that competition is what protects against such overreach.
The Monopolkommission is particularly scrutinizing the Düsseldorf-based defense conglomerate Rheinmetall. Podszun stressed the necessity of carefully avoiding any system dependence on Rheinmetall, warning that the company could effectively dominate military infrastructure for decades, much like a spider in its web.
