The German Federal Ministry of Defence decided on 18th October to not further support the expensive anti-ballistic missile system MEADS. Already six years ago, two studies published by Adj. Prof Dr Bernd W. Kubbig revealed the project’s severe financial and security-political deficits.
In 2005, Kubbig advised politicians to rethink a German participation at the project. According to Kubbig, the project lacked any transparent calculation and from a strategic point of view possible fields of application seemed limited: MEADS was a result of the Cold War with no raison d’être after the collapse of the Soviet Union. "The Ministry’s recent decision to abandon MEADS is very much appreciated, however, it is six years late. Furthermore, it would be very alarming if the now accruing shortage of orders resulted in an increase of German arms exports, especially into the crisis-shaken region of the Middle East," Kubbig warns.
Publications (in German only):
Bernd W. Kubbig, Als Entscheidungsgrundlage für das Raketenabwehrprojekt MEADS ungeeignet. Eine Analyse der Dokumente von BMVg und Berichterstattergruppe, HSFK-Report Nr. 2/2005, Frankfurt/M.
http://hsfk.de/fileadmin/downloads/report0205.pdf
Bernd W. Kubbig, Raketenabwehrsystem MEADS: Entscheidung getroffen, viele Fragen offen, HSFK-Report Nr. 10/2005, Frankfurt/M.
http://hsfk.de/fileadmin/downloads/report1005.pdf
Contact:
PD Dr Bernd W. Kubbig
kubbig@hsfk.de