Struggling German automaker Volkswagen may soon begin transforming its Lower Saxony factory from producing T-Roc Cabriolets to manufacturing parts for the Iron Dome missile interceptor system, according to a new Financial Times report. This reveals a new reality for the West: a nation’s auto industry can become a dual-use industrial base in times of conflict.
FT reports that Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defence Systems is in talks with VW regarding its troubled Osnabrück plant to produce Iron Dome components.
“The aim is to save everybody, maybe even to grow,” said a source with knowledge of the talks. “The potential is so high. But it’s also an individual decision for the workers if they want to be part of the idea.”
Production of the Iron Dome part could be operational in 12 to 18 months, the source said, as long as factory workers agree to switch to weapons production.
The Osnabrück factory would be transformed to produce Iron Dome components, including heavy-duty trucks that carry the system’s missiles, launchers, and power plants (commonly called generators).
The actual missiles, however, would be produced at a separate facility in Germany, operated by weapons specialists under Rafael’s plans.
News of this potential factory conversion comes as Israel, the US, and allied forces in the Gulf region are depleting their stockpiles of interceptors to counter IRGC missiles and drones.
FT noted that VW has been searching for the next chapter for the Osnabrück factory amid weak demand and a flood of cheap autos from China.
The importance of keeping an industrial base, such as auto factories, operational is that, in wartime, production lines can easily be converted to manufacture missiles, tanks, and other war machines.
