Volkswagen and Israeli defense contractor Rafael Advanced Defense Systems are moving closer to signing a joint venture agreement. According to Bloomberg and WirtschaftsWoche, the parties already have a written document in place, with final approval pending.
To understand the scale: this is not about missiles. The plant in Osnabrück will manufacture cargo chassis, launcher platforms and generators — that is, the mobile infrastructure on which the Iron Dome operates and travels. The interceptors themselves and sensitive electronics will remain in production in Israel and the United States.
Why VW and why now
The Osnabrück plant is one of the smaller facilities in the VW group, specializing in small-batch and niche projects. After failed negotiations to sell the plant to Rheinmetall (the deal collapsed in March 2026), the enterprise faces closure. At stake are 2,300 jobs.
Meanwhile, as Euronews notes, VW through its subsidiary MAN Truck & Bus already has experience in military logistics: the joint venture Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles has been supplying army trucks for years. In other words, the conversion would require relatively modest investments — according to estimates, the transition will take 12 to 18 months.
"Weapons manufacturing by Volkswagen AG remains excluded"
— VW spokesperson, in response to media inquiries
VW CEO Oliver Blume publicly supports this logic: trucks and command vehicles are not weapons. This formulation is designed to neutralize internal resistance.
Where the real problem lies
The works council (Betriebsrat) in Germany is not a decoration. Under labor law, it has veto power over production restructuring. Defense News explicitly states: the council's position is a "key variable" in the entire deal. Turgeman's preliminary contact with worker representatives in Wolfsburg has already taken place, but there is no public agreement.
In parallel, there is a geopolitical context: the state of Lower Saxony, the home state of Defense Minister Pistorius, owns 20% of VW shares. This means the federal government — through the region — is a direct stakeholder in the deal, not merely an observer.
Sales market — Europe, not just Israel
The Iron Dome has already been sold to Finland, with negotiations for supplies ongoing with Greece and other European countries. The products of the Osnabrück plant, according to reports, will be intended exclusively for European customers — which removes some of the political sensitivity regarding direct deliveries to conflict zones.
If the deal goes through, it will be one of the first cases where a major civilian automaker systematically integrates into a defense supply chain — not through acquisition, but through repurposing its own capacities. But whether the works council will approve by the end of 2026 depends on whether VW and Rafael can convince 2,300 workers that assembling air defense platforms is morally and legally different from manufacturing weapons.
