Hegseth and Pistorius Sign Defense-Industrial Pact at Pentagon, Discuss German Tomahawk Purchase

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth hosted German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius at the Pentagon on September 15, 2026, for their first face-to-face meeting since an earlier snub, signing a letter of intent to deepen bilateral defense-industrial cooperation. The pact is meant to expand joint development, production, licensed manufacturing, and sustainment capacity to address munitions shortages across NATO: Germany's MBDA facility is set to begin producing PAC-3 MSE Patriot interceptors later in 2026 (upgrading from older PAC-2 output), and officials agreed to evaluate which components of Tomahawk cruise missiles Germany could manufacture domestically as part of a two-track plan pairing near-term US-made purchases with longer-term European production capacity. Pistorius said a planned German purchase of Tomahawks still needed further negotiation but stressed the deal would not make Germany overly dependent on Washington, calling the talks with Hegseth 'friendly and relaxed' and warning that 'Russia will remain the biggest threat to Euro-Atlantic security in the foreseeable future.' Hegseth said aligning US and German industry 'expand[s] opportunities for joint development, production, licensed manufacturing.' The meeting follows Germany's April 2026 adoption of its first postwar military strategy and comes as Berlin pursues F-35 purchases and the European ELSA long-range strike program in parallel; France has criticized US licensing arrangements like this one as undercutting European defense-industrial autonomy.