Krauss-Maffei Wegmann

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Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH & Co. KG

logo
legal form GmbH and Co. KG
founding 1999
Seat Munich , GermanyGermanyGermany 
management Frank Haun (Managing Director)

Horst Rieder, Ralf Ketzel

Number of employees 2771 (2014)
sales 747 million euros (2014)
Branch Defense industry
Website www.kmweg.de
Status: 2014

The Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH & Co. KG ( KMW ) is a German defense company headquartered in Munich , the primarily military wheeled and tracked vehicles and engineering machinery develops, manufactures and sells, and is in this product segment leader in Europe. KMW's armaments sales in 2012 were $ 1 billion. KMW vehicles include the ATF Dingo , Fennek , Mungo , GTK Boxer (in cooperation with Rheinmetall ), MARS , AMPV , Panzerhaubitze 2000 , Leopard 1 , Leopard 2 and the Puma infantry fighting vehicle (in a joint venture with Rheinmetall). As a maintenance partner and spare parts producer, the consortium also looks after all other armored weapon systems of the German army, such as the Buffalo recovery tank or the Skorpion mine thrower .

Leopard 2A5 from Krauss-Maffei Wegmann

The almost equally large companies KMW and Nexter , which is subordinate to the French Ministry of Defense , merged in spring 2015. For this purpose, a holding company, KNDS , was founded, which is held in equal parts by the current owners of KMW and Nexter.

history

The company Wegmann & Co. was established in 1882 in Kassel as Casseler Waggonfabriken by Wegmann, Harkort & Co. founded by Peter Wegmann and Richard Harkort. In 1912 it was taken over by August Bode and Conrad Köhler. In the 1930s the company specialized in passenger coaches and military vehicles. During the time of the National Socialist dictatorship, the exploitation of forced laborers, prisoners of war and political prisoners was part of the corporate policy of August Bode , who later became head of the military economy . After the rearmament , the company took over the development and construction of tower systems for equipment of the newly founded Bundeswehr, including the Leopard 1 and 2 main battle tanks.

In 1838 Joseph Anton von Maffei founded the first locomotive factory in Munich. This was taken over by Krauss & Co. in 1931 and from then on operated under the name Krauss-Maffei . Like Wegmann, Krauss-Maffei also began developing military products in the 1930s. Series production of the Leopard 1 began in 1963, with Krauss-Maffei as general contractor.

Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) was formed in 1999 as a merger of the armaments activities of Krauss-Maffei, a subsidiary of the then Mannesmann, and Wegmann & Co., which was majority owned by the Bode family. Since then, KMW has been one of the leading manufacturers in Europe in the field of battle tanks through to artillery and air defense . KMW subsidiaries are active in the field of electronic defense technology, among other things.

Dingo 1 (version ATF 2 )
KMW armor on an Iveco Trakker

After the Mannesmann takeover by Vodafone, the industrial division of Mannesmann (grouped under the name Atecs ) was sold to Siemens and Bosch . Siemens held a 49% stake in KMW since 2000, the remaining 51% of the company shares were owned by Wegmann & Co. GmbH, a subsidiary of Wegmann & Co. Unternehmens-Holding KG. Manfred Bode had been in charge of the business for a long time, after 2000 Frank Haun became the first non-family manager to head the company.

At the end of 2006 (on January 31, 2007) KMW took over the defense technology division of Blohm + Voss Industries (BVI), which now operates under the name KMW Schweißtechnik. On December 17, 2010, Siemens sold its 49% stake to Wegmann und Co. Unternehmens-Holding KG, which already held the majority of voting rights of 51%. In 2012 KMW took over the protection division for civil vehicles from EDAG as well as the British company WFEL Ltd., a manufacturer of mobile tactical bridges.

On July 1, 2014, it was decided between KMW and the French state armaments company Nexter to merge under a joint 50:50 holding called KANT (synonym for KMW And Nexter Together ) by spring 2015 . The signing took place on July 29, 2015. In December 2015 it was said that KMW had founded Honosthor NV together with Nexter, which is based in Amsterdam . On July 6, 2016 the name Honosthor was changed to KMW + Nexter Defense Systems NV.

In December 2014, KMW signed a contract with Diehl Defense to acquire the operational business of Diehl Defense Land Systems GmbH, a leading global manufacturer of track chains and undercarriage components.

In February 2016 the group took over the company Battle Tank Dismantling GmbH in Rockensussra .

owner

The owner of KMW is the family holding Wegmann Unternehmens-Holding GmbH & Co. KG in Kassel . This belongs to around 26 silent partners. The partners are members of the Bode, Braunbehrens, von Maydell and Sethe families and all descendants of the company founders or the later owners of Wegmann & Co.

criticism

From the summer of 2011, the company came increasingly into the public eye as a result of the possible sale of Leopard 2 tanks to Saudi Arabia . The kingdom wanted to acquire 270 tanks, which, due to the tense security situation in the region as a result of the Arab Spring , was viewed as critical not only by the opposition but also by some KMW owners, in particular Supervisory Board member Burkhart Braunbehrens . After no quick decision was made in Germany due to the criticism, Saudi Arabia abandoned this plan in 2013 and instead ordered the American M1 Abrams .

In 2013, the company received an order to manufacture 62 Leopard 2 tanks and 24 self-propelled howitzers for the Emirate of Qatar . The order volume, which also included accessories, transport vehicles and training facilities, amounted to 1.9 billion euros. A corresponding application had already been approved by the Federal Security Council. The sale was criticized by Jan van Aken (Die Linke) and Volker Beck (Greens).

Also in 2013 it was reported that a senior official of the Greek Ministry of Defense had received a bribe of 1.7 million euros from a Greek company representative in the course of the sale of 170 Leopard 2 tanks. A former Greek representative of the company was then arrested. The group denied any acts of bribery and commissioned the auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers to investigate. According to a report by Klaus Ott in the Süddeutsche Zeitung, it emerged that KMW had paid almost 5 million euros to an “office for Southeastern Europe advice” of the two former SPD members of the Bundestag, Dagmar Luuk and Heinz-Alfred Steiner . Since then, KMW and the two ex-MPs have not been available to comment on this matter. In this context, the Group's offices were searched in November 2014.

In 2015, Transparency International UK published a report that mentions bribes when selling the self-propelled howitzer 2000 to Greece .

subsidiary company

Subsidiaries and holdings are:

  • ATM Computer Systems GmbH
  • KMW welding technology GmbH
  • HDVS Hellenic Defense Vehicle Systems
  • Wegmann USA, Inc.
  • DDVS Dutch Defense Vehicle Systems
  • ARTEC GmbH
  • PSM GmbH
  • VPS Vehicle Protection Systems GmbH
  • VPS de México SA
  • WFEL Ltd. (mobile bridge systems)
  • Battle Tank Dismantling GmbH Koch (Rockensußra, Thuringia)
  • DST Defense Service Tracks Remscheid

Products

Web links

Commons : Krauss-Maffei Wegmann  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Nexter merge. In: handelsblatt.com. Retrieved July 27, 2015 .
  2. ^ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung v. February 1, 2014, p. 16. The source for arms sales given there is SIPRI , see also Top 100 arms-producing and military services companies 2012
  3. ↑ a b Franco-German armaments company decided. In: ORF.at , July 2, 2014
  4. ↑ Verena Mayer: Arms trade: The tank family. In: Der Tagesspiegel. September 12, 2012, accessed June 23, 2018 .
  5. ^ Siemens: Panzer division is to be sold - Siemens wants to sell its stake in the tank factories of Krauss-Maffei Wegmann as quickly as possible. The contract should be signed this year, says Siemens boss von Pierer. Speculation is already blossoming about the potential buyer. In: spiegel.de
  6. ↑ Overview of the Wegmann Group ( Memento from April 12, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
  7. ↑ Company profile: Krauss-Maffei Wegmann.
  8. ^ The company KMW. ( Memento from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  9. ↑ a b Stefan Weber: Arms company Kraus-Maffei Wegmann - stubborn as a tank. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung. June 21, 2012, accessed June 23, 2018 .
  10. ↑ Krauss-Maffei Wegmann - Siemens sells stake in Panzerschmiede. In: Manager Magazin. December 17, 2010, accessed June 23, 2018 .
  11. ↑ arms company KMW soon Bards Limos. In: Handelsblatt. January 31, 2012, accessed June 23, 2018 .
  12. ^ Graham Ruddick: German tank maker Krauss-Maffei Wegmann buys WFEL. In: The Telegraph. May 23, 2012. Retrieved June 23, 2018 .
  13. ↑ Alexis Peigné: Le projet KANT ou l'idée d'un Airbus de l'armement terrestre. In: portail-ie.fr. April 1, 2015, accessed May 22, 2015 .
  14. ↑ Stefan Simons: Kraus-Maffei and Nexter want to merge. In: Spiegel.de. July 1, 2014, accessed June 23, 2018 .
  15. ^ Johannes C. Bockenheimer: Armaments cooperation KMW and Nexter become Kant. In: Tagesspiegel.de. July 29, 2015, accessed June 23, 2018 .
  16. ↑ Gerhard Hegmann: The most mysterious fusion in the armaments sector. In: Welt Online. December 15, 2015, accessed August 6, 2016 .
  17. ↑ KMW wants to strengthen business with acquisitions. In: Handelsblatt. December 18, 2014, accessed June 23, 2018 .
  18. ↑ Gerhard Hegmann: Leopard manufacturer buys Europe's largest tank cemetery. In: Welt Online. February 26, 2016, accessed August 6, 2016 .
  19. ↑ The Panzer Clan from Krauss-Maffei. ( Memento from July 22, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) on: Capital. June 22, 2010. Only p. 1/6 online ( Memento from July 22, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
  20. ↑ Saudi Arabia is losing patience with Germany. In: zeit.de. July 12, 2013, accessed June 23, 2018 .
  21. ↑ Billion dollar tank deal is about to end. In: stern.de. July 12, 2013, accessed June 23, 2018 .
  22. ↑ A lesson on political inconsistency ( Memento from June 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  23. ↑ German Leopard 2 tanks for Qatar ( Memento from April 20, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) In: tagesschau.de , April 18, 2013
  24. ^ Christoph Hickmann: German arms exports to the Gulf region are booming. In: sueddeutsche.de. August 7, 2013, accessed June 23, 2018 .
  25. ↑ Klaus Ott, Tasos Telloglou: Greek ex-politician admits bribe deal for German tanks. In: sueddeutsche.de. December 28, 2013, accessed June 23, 2018 .
  26. ^ Bribery scandal: Greek ex-representative of tank company KMW arrested. In: spiegel.de. December 30, 2013, accessed June 23, 2018 .
  27. ^ Klaus Ott: SPD politicians cashed in on a tank deal. In: sueddeutsche.de. May 19, 2014, accessed June 23, 2018 .
  28. ^ Raid on German armaments company. In: zeit.de. November 15, 2014, accessed June 23, 2018 .
  29. ↑ Björn Finke: Corruption in armaments - Dirty business - Lousy grades for German armaments companies. In: sueddeutsche.de. April 26, 2015, accessed June 23, 2018 .
  30. ↑ Tank builder buys bridge maker. Handelsblatt, May 23, 2012, accessed on February 15, 2013 .

Coordinates: 48 ° 11 ′ 41 ″  N , 11 ° 28 ′ 16 ″  E