Comment: State entry into KNDS – please no dictates of national egoism!

It is logical that the tank manufacturer KNDS becomes a state-owned company. But now the company needs a plan for the future. France and Germany have to develop this together.

KNDS: The company must not end up costing taxpayers dearly. Photo: PR, Getty Images [M]

The state brews its own beer in the Rothaus brewery in Baden, and state-owned passenger ships sail on Bavarian lakes. And soon another strange state-owned company will be added, which is, however, less subject to entertainment tax: KNDS. The state tank will soon roll off the assembly line.

The federal government takes over 50 percent of KNDS, the other half remains with the French state. The federal government and the previous owner families agreed on this after the IPO failed. Handelsblatt was the first to report on it.

The state entry is logical. Otherwise, the owner families would have sold their shares elsewhere and German security interests would have been jeopardized. The Bundeswehr is KNDS's largest customer. Without German influence in the company, there was a risk of incompatible weapon systems and longer delivery times, and possibly even a gap in Germany's defense capability.

» Read also: The federal tank is coming – agreement on state takeover of KNDS

What is important, however, is that this logic only works in the short term. The defense industry is already strongly influenced by national interests. Not even important EU partners like Germany, France, Italy or Spain trust each other.