Federal Republic of Sparta

Sparta 2.0

The new ‘Sparta 2.0’ paper, explicitly aimed at “German and European decision-makers”, begins by identifying serious shortcomings in “defence” capabilities in Germany and across Europe. Although the European states together have raised investment in their armed forces to a level that amount to 60 per cent of the US military budget, they remain “militarily dependent on the United States at all levels”, the paper finds. This dependency pervades “not only individual weapon systems but ultimately the entire chain of operations – from satellite-based reconnaissance through fire control to the battlefield”.[1] The authors draw some stark lesson from this state of affairs: “No European combat mission is currently conceivable without clearance, software or systems” from the US. Without a real “change of course”, the “discrepancy between Europe’s financial input and its military capabilities will continue to grow” in the coming years. But, the paper says, a “change of course”, is entirely possible. With “the second-highest defence budget in the world and a competitive industrial and technological base”, Europe, with Germany at the centre, has all the necessary prerequisites. Achieving self-sufficiency in the defence industry must be seen as Europe’s “Manhattan Project”.[2]

Capability gaps

‘Sparta 2.0’ lists ten “strategic capability gaps” in which “Europe’s dependencies are critical”. Closing these gaps by advancing German and European military capabilities is a “strategic necessity”. In a number of areas, Germany is key, and its rapidly growing defence companies are already engaged in major arms programmes. This applies, for example, to “scaled autonomous systems”, i.e. the mass production of drones of all kinds,[3] and to “air defence” systems.[4] German companies are also already working on the “development of a European satellite constellation” [5] and on the production of “small and medium-sized launch vehicles” for putting military satellites into space.[6] The development and manufacture of “long-range precision weapons” have been initiated through various multinational partnerships.[7] Other elements are, the authors note, still missing, such as the establishment of “a resilient command and control system” and the development of “a sovereign European data and AI infrastructure”. The paper states that, in addition to the ten “capability gaps” it identifies, further “bottlenecks” exist, including “ammunition shortages” and problems with medical logistics. Again, these would have to be resolved within the existing framework of Europe’s armed forces and defence industry.

Germany as core of Europe’s military might

‘Sparta 2.0’ does not go into detail regarding timeframes or financial structures. It claims that “substantial progress towards independent European operational capability” within three to five years is a realistic goal. “Far-reaching autonomy” could be achieved “in most areas” within five to ten years. The authors estimate the overall costs at 150 to 200 billion euros by 2030. As for the entire decade leading up to the point where far-reaching autonomy is achieved, governments would have to find around 500 billion euros collectively. That amounts to 50 or so billion euros per year. For the EU member states plus the UK and Norway, this would purportedly amount to just over 0.25 per cent of their economic output. The authors regard this as financially feasible. They recommend an approach that builds a “coalition of the willing”. This means in practice working “with the states of Central and Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, as well as with the traditional partners in Western Europe and the UK.” The paper explicitly factors in a special role for Germany, which would increase its military budget far more significantly than other European states. Berlin’s contribution would amount to 150 billion euros, or even 160 billion euros, under the ‘Sparta 2.0’ vision. After all, “the path to European defence autonomy inevitably leads via the deployment of Germany’s financial and industrial resources.” Germany becomes the core of a future European military powerhouse.

Intertwined with the arms industry

Four of the five authors of the ‘Sparta 2.0’ concept had already published a paper back in March 2025 in which they similarly called for a push for German-European rearmament independent of the United States. Their work illustrates a growing intertwining of government agencies and leading think-tanks with the arms industry. Thomas Enders, for instance, who has the rank of major in the German army reserves, was for a long time head of the aerospace and defence group Airbus before becoming president of the influential German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) in 2019. René Obermann, in turn, a former Telekom CEO and currently Chair of the Board of Directors at the Airbus, is set to head the Supervisory Board of the software group SAP next year, which has been running a ‘Defence Innovation Hub’ in Munich since February. Jeanette zu Fürstenberg, a start-up and AI investor, is head of European operations at the Silicon Valley venture capital firm General Catalyst. Moritz Schularick serves as President of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) and has long been arguing for debt-financed rearmament. A new addition to the authors is Nico Lange, Senior Fellow at the Munich Security Conference. Lange, Obermann and Schularick, together with retired Lieutenant General Jürgen-Joachim von Sandrart, form an advisory group within the Federal Economics Ministry specially established to support the ramping-up of the security and defence industry.

Germany’s number one start-up

Two of the five authors are also directly linked to the emerging German drone industry: Fürstenberg was one of the first investors in the drone firm Helsing, founded in 2021, on whose supervisory board Enders has served since 2022. One of Helsing’s three founders, Gundbert Scherf, was seconded to the Federal Defence Ministry in 2014 as an employee of the McKinsey consultancy. He served until 2016 as Strategic Armaments Control Officer under the then Minister Ursula von der Leyen. A Bundestag committee of inquiry later investigated the problem of McKinsey networks across government, which were very active at the time.[8] Helsing has recently, alongside Stark Defence, been awarded a contract to manufacture drones for the Bundeswehr worth an initial 270 million euros – a contract that can optionally be increased to 1.5 billion euros.[9] Helsing is also involved in the development of the first German-made unmanned combat jet. The company plans to launch a new financing round in the near future, seeking to attract fresh investments of up to 1.2 billion euros. It is a sum that exceeds all other start-ups in Germany and, with a valuation of 18 billion euros, would put Helsing at the top of the German start-up league table.[10]

Well-connected

Helsing’s competitor Stark Defence is also well-connected in Berlin. The start-up’s Senior Vice President is retired Major Johannes Arlt. After occupying various posts in the Bundeswehr and the Federal Defence Ministry, Arlt had a seat in the Bundestag for the SPD from 2021 to 2025. His main focus as a politician was on defence policy. Marie Theres Niedermaier, who previously worked as a personal advisor in the Chancellor’s Office dealing with economic and financial policy, is now also employed at Stark Defence.[11] Stark Defence has likewise received a contract worth an initial 270 million euros from the Bundeswehr to manufacture drones. The company also builds sea drones and sells a command and control system for unmanned vehicles of all kinds.

[1] All the quotes here are taken from ‘Der Weg zu europäischer Verteidigungsautonomie: Ein Leitfaden zur Überwindung kritischer Abhängigkeiten.’ May 2026. kielinstitut.de.

[2] In the “Manhattan Project” the US brought together all the relevant scientific and industrial activities and focused them on the development and construction of atomic weapons from 1942.

[3] See: Germany the major driver of arms procurement.

[4] See: Deutsch-französische Konflikte.

[5] See: Das deutsche Starlink.

[6] Raketenstart von Isar Aerospace erneut abgebrochen. handelsblatt.com 09.04.2026.

[7] See: Europas Mittelstreckenwaffen.

[8] See: McKinseys Klientenprojekte.

[9] See: Germany the major driver of arms procurement.

[10] Nadine Schimroszik: Helsing könnte bald 18 Milliarden Dollar wert sein. handelsblatt.com 09.05.2026.

[11] Thomas Fromm, Georg Ismar: Erst Kanzleramt, dann Kamikaze-Drohnen. sueddeutsche.de 22.04.2026.