Volkswagen, the carmaker founded in 1937 under the Nazi regime, is on course to help build equipment for the air defense system that protects Israeli civilians from rocket fire.
Rafael Advanced Defense Systems is nearing an agreement with Volkswagen and the German state of Lower Saxony to convert the company's plant in Osnabrück, in northwestern Germany, into a production site for Iron Dome hardware. Bloomberg reported late last month that a deal could be reached within weeks, after objections from a major shareholder had threatened to derail the plan. A memorandum of understanding has already been signed for the production of parts for Iron Dome and other interception systems, and VW chief executive Oliver Blume has confirmed publicly that the company is examining a defense solution for the site.
The plant would not produce Tamir interceptors, which Rafael intends to make elsewhere in Germany. Osnabrück would turn out the supporting hardware the system depends on: launchers, the heavy transport vehicles that move the batteries, and power generators. Talks first surfaced in a Financial Times report in March, with production estimated to be possible within 12 to 18 months of approval, meaning a start sometime next year.
For Osnabrück the arrangement is a rescue. The plant employs roughly 2,300 people, currently builds the T-Roc Cabriolet, and was heading toward closure as Volkswagen absorbs the worst financial stretch in nearly a decade and winds down car production at the site. Berlin has been supportive, and a source involved in the talks told the FT the aim was to save everyone working there.
The historical weight sits with the company rather than the building. Volkswagen was established in 1937 as the vehicle for the Nazi regime's "people's car" project, and during the war its works produced the V1 flying bomb for the Wehrmacht using forced labor. The regime that founded it murdered six million Jews. Nearly nine decades on, that same corporate name is set to appear on the supply chain for the system that intercepts rockets fired at Israeli towns.
