On September 29, 2021, AmCham Germany's Aerospace & Defense Committee together with the Regional Chapter Baden-Württemberg hosted an event called "Transatlantic Talks 2021: Paving the Path Forward for Transatlantic Cooperation and Interdependency in Aerospace & Defense" to discuss current issues and trends in transatlantic security cooperation such as the 2% Nato debate, German and American defence spending as well as the harmonisation of exports. Moreover, the event provided insights on AFRICOM’s and EUCOM’s role and perspectives on old and new security challenges of our time.
Among our guests were Major General John D. Lamontagne, Chief of Staff, EUCOM HQ US European Command; Lieutenant General Kirk Smith, Deputy Commander, United States Africa Command, Stuttgart; Helmut Rauch, President of the Corporate Division Board Diehl Defence & Member of the Diehl Executive Board; and James McGovern, Vice President, Europe-Africa-Arctic at Raytheon Missiles & Defense. The event was moderated by Ben Hodges, Commanding General of the US Army Europe from 2014 to 2017, now Pershing Chair in Strategic Studies at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA).
A special thank you to Prof. Gerhard Wegen, AmCham Germany Regional Chapter Chair Baden-Württemberg, as well as James E. Monroe, Chair of the Aerospace & Defense Committee at AmCham Germany!
All panellists agreed that the transatlantic alliance and partnership in aerospace and defence must be strengthened and that mutual trust is crucial to maintain this strong relationship.
The event provided a great discussion between industry and the political representatives and we thank all participants for contributing to this very fruitful discussion!
