On 27 August, Hesse’s minister-president Boris Rhein, economics minister Kaweh Mansoori and Rheinmetall chief executive Armin Papperger met at Kassel Airport and signed a memorandum of understanding for what they call the North Hesse Defence Hub. Rheinmetall will build a logistics and technology centre of more than 30,000 square metres beside the airport at Calden, expand its plant in Kassel and, with funding from the state, put a three-digit million euro sum into the region. The centre is due to be running by the end of 2027.
A drone test centre is planned at the same site, because Kassel Airport offers conditions for testing that other airports do not. Rhein called the airport a place for general aviation and business — and said the state intends to establish it more firmly as a military hub, for Bundeswehr training flights and for research into new drone technologies. The runway stays where it is; what it is for is being rewritten.
So…:
What in your industry is quietly being given a second purpose?
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