A Patriot surface-to-air missile system assigned to the U.S. Army's 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade fires during an exercise with the Dutch military at McGregor Range, N.M., on May 11, 2024. Patriot missiles will now be produced in Germany for the first time, according to European and U.S. defense contractors. (David Rincon/U.S. Army)
GRAFENWOEHR, Germany — Construction has begun on a facility in southern Germany that will produce upwards of 1,000 Patriot missiles for NATO allies, as member nations act to boost munitions stockpiles depleted in the defense of Ukraine.
German government officials broke ground last month on an assembly line facility in Schrobenhausen, approximately 85 miles southwest of Tower Barracks in Grafenwoehr.
The site, a joint venture between European missile conglomerate MBDA and U.S.-based Raytheon, will be the first Patriot production facility outside the United States.
Russia’s war on Ukraine “shows the great importance of ground-based air defense and the high consumption of ammunition in a symmetrical, high-intensity conflict,” MBDA spokesman Guenter Abel said Friday. “The limiting factor for NATO for numerous missile systems remains the ammunition supply. The challenge is to ramp up production quickly.”
Missile deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2027, Abel said.
The new facilities will feature several thousand square feet of added production space, a large bunker and storage space, a German Defense Ministry statement said Nov. 18. MBDA plans to increase its workforce at the site by 25%, to over 1,700 employees, by the end of next year.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, left, poses in front of a Patriot launcher with Bavarian governor Markus Söder on Nov. 18, 2024, at the groundbreaking of a new assembly line facility that will produce Patriot missiles in Schrobenhausen, Germany. (Twitter)
The missiles produced at Schrobenhausen will be sent to U.S. allies Germany, the Netherlands, Romania and Spain, and will replace stocks donated to Ukraine, according to NATO statements.
They can be sold to other countries like Ukraine within the rules of U.S. export regulations, said a German Defense Ministry official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to agency rules.
Patriot batteries have been operated by at least eight U.S. allies in Europe and Ukraine to defend against cruise and ballistic missiles, drones and aircraft, according to a Raytheon statement earlier this year.
The initial $5.5 billion contract, part of the European Sky Shield Initiative, was awarded in January by the NATO Support and Procurement Agency. It was awarded to COMLOG, a joint venture between Raytheon and MBDA.
A follow-on $478 million contract was awarded to Raytheon to replenish German missile stocks for shells supplied to Ukraine, a NATO statement in August said.
MBDA and Raytheon were chosen due to their long-standing partnership, which goes back decades, Abel said. COMLOG has already maintained more than 5,000 Patriot missiles for German and European consumers.
Since the site aside from the new facility has been churning out missiles since 1959, it already has robust security to protect against potential spies and saboteurs, Abel said.
In November, U.S. authorities said American defense industrial sites in Europe should step up their security over concerns that Russian saboteurs could target them.
Stars and Stripes reporter Marcus Kloeckner contributed to this report.
