The top military leaders from 35 countries met in Dresden, Germany, on invitation of German Army Chief of Staff Alfons Mais in the last week of August. The highlight of the “10th Commanders of European Land Forces Forum” was a weapons show spotlighting innovations from Germany’s armaments industry. The Ukraine war has driven innovations and given rise to start-ups.

Innovation showcased at the meeting included Rheinmetall’s Skyranger air defense system, designed to eliminate the smallest of enemy drones within a 3-kilometer radius using its 30-mm revolver cannon and other air targets at a range of up to 9 kilometers with its four Stinger missiles.

“The Taliban had no air force when we were in Afghanistan,” Mais commented. “We are now seeing in the Ukraine conflict that the use of drones in particular has taken a massive leap—that drones are omnipresent on the battlefield. That’s why we all have to take a stand against the new threat from the air.”

According to Bild, United States Gen. Darryl A. Williams was most impressed by knds’ Remote Controlled Howitzer 155, which can hit its target with great accuracy from 54 kilometers, shoot up to nine rounds per minute while driving on bumpy terrain at over 18 miles per hour. “I’ve been in the U.S. artillery for 40 years. This is a game changer.” The commander of the United States Army for Europe and Africa added in German: “Unbelievable. This is German engineering.”

German engineering is world-renowned. But in the decades since World War ii, German military hardware has rarely been paraded with such pride.

While Germany’s military hasn’t yet integrated many of these newest innovations, countries around the world have already put in their orders. The industry meanwhile is adapting to the use of artificial intelligence.

Ukraine: A Military Lab for Start-ups

In 2023, the Munich-based start-up Helsing became Europe’s first privately owned startup business in the military, armaments and defense sector to surpass a valuation of $1 billion. Helsing, whose products proved their worth in Ukraine, is only three years old but has already secured some of the German military’s most important innovation projects, such as preparing the Eurofighter for electronic warfare and providing the AI infrastructure for the new Future Combat Air System.

The company specializes in developing software and integrating AI into defense technologies. It partners with major defense manufacturers, including Sweden’s Saab and Germany’s Rheinmetall.

Gründerszene lists Helsing as one of Germany’s top seven most important defense tech start-ups. Many of the others listed were founded by former German soldiers with prominent investors. Here is a brief overview:

• Quantum Systems, which gained experience in Ukraine, develops vertical take-off drones to spy on Russian troop locations. It was founded by ex-Bundeswehr soldier Florian Seibel in 2015. After proving itself in Ukraine, the German-American billionaire Peter Thiel started investing in the company. Through Thiel, the company potentially gains “access to U.S. military knowledge,” Handelsblatt reported in 2022. Thiel’s Palantir and Anduril are two of the most modern U.S. companies in the defense technology sector.
• The start-up Arx currently offers six different small robots and supplies six European countries, including the German Armed Forces. The robots are designed to assist soldiers in combat zones, providing supplies or spying on the enemy. Recently, the start-up won the nato Innovation Fund as its main investor. The systems are currently deployed and tested in Ukraine.
• The Munich-based start-up Hattec is working on giving pilots of fighter jets and helicopters the ability to coordinate and control autonomously flying drones from the cockpit. The ceo and cofounder were previously in the German Armed Forces. They believe the war in Ukraine has vividly shown aircraft vulnerabilities that could be greatly reduced with this innovation.
• The dual-use startup Traversals, founded by engineer Dirk Kolb, set up the Ukraine Dynamic Frontline Monitoring service “to capture military events in the war zone by reading and analyzing publicly available data.” The Bundeswehr’s Cyber Innovation Hub and the French aircraft manufacturer Airbus are also among Traversals’ customers. Beyond military uses, it also offers election-observation support for “monitoring the transparency and credibility of electoral processes to ensure fair and free elections.”

Two other start-ups are also involved in the civilian sector but were primarily founded with the military in mind.

• The aerospace start-up Polaris seeks the “revolution of space travel” by developing a reusable space plane that takes off and lands horizontally instead of vertically. The founder, Alexander Kop, previously worked 10 years at the German Aerospace Center and is now cooperating with the German Armed Forces to achieve his goal. The German Armed Forces hope that the collaboration will bring advantages in high-speed aerial reconnaissance and faster satellite launches.
• The Munich-based start-up GovRadar wants to solve Germany’s procurement problems, especially for the Bundeswehr, and found a prominent investor in former defense minister and multi-millionaire Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg. “In a way, Govradar is a Check24 or an Amazon for public authorities,” Gründerszene commented. During his time in the military, founder Sascha Soyk helped set up the Bundeswehr Cyber Innovation Hub which will now test the procurement processes on his start-up.

While military innovations around the world are drastically increasing with the use of artificial intelligence and the study of the Ukraine war, it is critical to look closely at Germany, which has a history of military innovation. Referring to Germany’s growing air power in 1934, Winston Churchill warned, “So far, I have dealt with what I believe is the known, but beyond the known there is also the unknown. … As to that, all I would say is, ‘Beware!’ Germany is a country fertile in military surprises.”

Modern technology makes such surprises all the more likely and dangerous.

The AI Game Changer

“The digitalization of the battlefield is one of the major challenges we are facing,” Brig. Gen.Michael Volkmer told Nachgefragt presenter Caroline Grosse. Whether tanks, drones, combat aircraft or warships, all Bundeswehr weapon systems will be digitally connected, according to the commander of the Bundeswehr Digitalization Center.

He used the example of a new battle management system that was introduced for combat vehicles such as the Leopard 2, which is seen as one of the most advanced main battle tanks in the world. The system was reprogrammed so that information could be shared with other vehicles via mouse click. “The tank commander or gunner then sees significantly more information on the screen than is the case today,” Volkmer explained. In the future, “software will be used to make a system better, faster and more effective.”

The more information that can be collected and the faster it can be processed, the quicker the military can respond with the best weaponry at its disposal. AI can help in the gathering, analyzing and decision-making process to ensure that the best weapon system for the combat situation is chosen.

Volkmer warned: “The enemy will have such weapons. The enemy will deploy masses of armed drones, for example. We need means to counter this—and that will only be possible with the support of artificial intelligence.”

The Bundeswehr is also investing in new satellite technology so “decision-makers can make the best decision based on this information in order to achieve an effect against the enemy,” Volkmer said.

Germany is thinking of future warfare that involves more than tanks and airplanes. In previous wars, communication between troop members could take place via radio and the spoken word. But the use of various manned and unmanned weapon systems and the increased speed at which warfare takes place require different kinds of communication that combine voice, video and data.

History gives a powerful warning to not rely on past military innovations. Even seemingly mundane technological developments such as improvements in communication can have a dramatic impact on the battlefield. For example, the German blitzkrieg in World War ii heavily relied on radio communication.

Military Surprises Prophesied

The landscape of military technology is rapidly evolving, with innovations rivaling and surpassing the destructive force of nuclear weapons. Among these advancements are AI-powered drone swarms that could wipe out cities and AI-designed bioweapons that could kill millions worldwide—and even specifically target certain groups of people.

Military strategists are contemplating the worst-case scenarios and preparing for them, but they will not be able to stop them from happening. As the Bible warns repeatedly, “The way of peace they know not” (Isaiah 59:8).

It is evident we are nearing the time Jesus Christ spoke of in Matthew 24:22: “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved [alive]: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.”

The warning contains a wonderful promise: Christ is about to intervene to stop the military madness.

The Bible’s prophecies are recorded to warn our world and reveal why humanity is heading toward self-destruction, as the late Herbert W. Armstrong explained in his book Mystery of the Ages.

But God wouldn’t be a loving God if He didn’t offer a way to avoid the coming calamity. The Bible warns that the military rise of Germany indicates the prophesied Great Tribulation is around the corner and the window of opportunity to repent before the calamity strikes is closing.

Despite the historic precedent of two world wars, hardly anyone finds Germany’s military activities concerning. Most in the Western world, deceived by Satan (Revelation 12:9), actually cheer Germany on—believing a strong Germany will lead to a safer world. While the German people flourish in peacetime and have outstanding qualities that God created, they also have a history of following military leaders into sudden brutal warfare. The Bible reveals this will happen again to bring our world to repentance (Isaiah 10:5). Request a free copy of our booklet Germany and the Holy Roman Empire for a detailed explanation.

The future of our world cannot be understood by a simple analysis of current conditions; it is essential to consult Bible prophecy. Revelation 13 notes that the world will “wonder” at the military strength of a coming European empire and ask, “[W]ho is able to make war with him?” (verse 4). But once this German-led empire peaks, it will be too late to avert the crisis, and only individuals who turn to God will be protected. The sobering world conditions and military innovations show that worse is to come. But God will use this calamity to teach mankind and bring world peace at last.