German Chancellor Olaf Scholz loves convoluted sentences; they're often so long that by the end you can no longer remember what he started by saying. But back in February, when Rheinmetall, Germany's largest weapons manufacturer, held a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of its new ammunition factory, the chancellor was very clear.

For far too long, Scholz argued, the German approach to armaments policy has been like buying a car: just place an order and collect the vehicle. "But that's not how arms production works," he said. "Tanks, howitzers, helicopters, and air defense systems don't just sit on a shelf somewhere. If nothing is ordered for years, then nothing will be produced."

That is how he outlined the dilemma facing the German government. The need for weapons and ammunition is enormous, and not just to provide Ukraine with further military support.

"We cannot rely on the Americans to always foot the bill for everything or to provide the necessary materials," Green Party Vice-Chancellor and Economy Minister Robert Habeck said at a conference in March. "That means that ramping up military production, the defense and armaments industries, and scenarios including for national defense — these all need to be reactivated again."

At the groundbreaking ceremony, Scholz said how important it was "to have a flexible, modern, and capable defense industry." During the Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina's visit to Berlin, Scholz added: "We need to do more; we need to ramp up production."

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After decades of disarmament, this is nothing less than a 180-degree........

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