Germany’s Defence Minister Boris Pistorius has urged the United States to grant permission for the production of PAC-3 interceptor missiles for Patriot air defence systems in Europe.
He said this after meeting US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth in Washington, European Pravda reports, citing the FT.
According to Pistorius, Berlin has offered its American partners help in meeting the enormous demand for these systems by setting up new production lines on European soil, and specifically in Germany. The sides have already signed a statement of intent on jointly manufacturing US weapons in Europe, and PAC-3 missiles broadly fall under this agreement.
The German minister stressed that additional talks are needed to launch the process definitively, as everything depends on approval from the White House, the Pentagon and the manufacturer, and also involves intellectual property issues. For now, the matter is being examined, and the German side is counting on a positive decision.
At the same time, Germany is seeking US permission for the licensed manufacture of long-range Tomahawk missiles on its territory. Berlin has an agreement with Washington to purchase these weapons for potential strikes on Russia from German soil, but there is a long queue for the delivery of these missiles.
- In May this year, it became known that Poland had received preliminary approval from the US State Department to produce missiles for Patriot.
- Talks on this issue between Ukraine and the United States are still ongoing.