Rheinmetall: what's with CEO's jibes about Ukrainian drones?
The CEO of German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall, Armin Papperger, has provoked outrage with comments about Ukrainian drone production. He described it as crude technology being put together by 'housewives' in kitchens. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky responded by saying the remarks were bizarre.
When boomers boom about innovation
Alexandr Yakovenko, founder of TAF Industries, hits back at the Rheinmetall CEO on Facebook:
“Old European platforms will lose relevance if they fail to integrate the very technologies they make fun of. ... When you say: 'This is not innovation', I hear: 'We don't want to admit that the future is being written in Ukrainian workshops and not in Düsseldorf offices.' The hashtag MadeByHousewives has gone viral for good reason. Because these 'housewives' destroy more enemy military equipment every month than entire European armies in full-scale operations. While your industry continues to sell 20th-century solutions at 21st-century prices.”
No place for rivalries
European defence contractors and Ukrainian companies would do better to cooperate than squabble, argues Line Rindvig of the start-up accelerator Defence Builder in Ukrainska Pravda:
“Europe continues to invest billions in systems that have never been tested under real-world conditions of electronic warfare – with GPS jamming, signal spoofing and weekly adjustments to countermeasures. Without incorporating Ukraine's experience and innovative approach, Europe risks building an arsenal that will not withstand its first encounter with modern warfare. Ukraine has innovation, speed and combat experience. Rheinmetall has scale, capital and industrial clout. This sector should not be about competition, but about mutual complementarity.”
Ukrainians know the modern battlefield
Die Zeit says the CEO's view of his sector is outdated:
“It is true that at the beginning of the war private individuals were 3D-printing parts, which were then assembled in start-ups. But this improvisational artistry has developed into an industry that is now one of the best in the world. Ukrainian experts are now sharing their expertise with the Gulf states and the US to help them defend themselves against Iranian drones. Ukrainian soldiers will soon be training the German military in how to to survive in today's almost transparent battlefields. Drones can see everything; they can attack everything. This dystopian future is already a reality in Ukraine: the soldiers there have experienced this technology first-hand, as have many housewives.”
Results instead of rhetoric
The Rheinmetall boss may be trying to deflect from his own weaknesses, scoffs Der Spiegel:
“Papperger's snide remarks may have been prompted by the fact that Ukrainian weapons production has certain qualities which German production still lacks. Ukraine produces several million drones per year: that's a world record. German manufacturers have sleepwalked through this development and are now struggling to ramp up production of these and other weapons at the pace the army would like. ... But as President Vlodymyr Zelensky rightly said in response to Papperger's remarks: 'Competition today should be based not on rhetoric, but on technology and results'. Enough said.”