Germany readies to turn Bundeswehr into Europe’s strongest conventional army

German Defense Minister Pistorius (right on the tank) is eager to fight.
Photo: DW

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius briefed lawmakers about the government’s priorities to turn Germany’s Bundeswehr armed forces into Europe’s strongest conventional army, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions are confidential, Bloomberg reports.

Germany is preparing more than 60 military procurement orders for parliamentary approval by the end of this year, including the purchase of 20 Eurofighter jets, as many as 5,000 Boxer armored vehicles and at least 3,500 Patria Oyj armored vehicles, according to people familiar with the matter.

The German cabinet is set to approve its medium-term financial planning on Wednesday that will see its annual defense budget more than double to as much as €162 billion ($189 billion) within four years. That annual tally should be achieved by 2029, well ahead of the NATO alliance’s target for military outlays to reach 3.5% of gross domestic product by 2035.

The military procurement push was made possible after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s ruling coalition agreed to exempt defense spending from constitutional borrowing limits and set up a debt-financed €500 billion special fund to build roads, rails, power grids and schools.

“It is foreseeable that we would like to launch a large number of procurement projects this year,” an official at the Defense Ministry said in a statement, without providing details on possible purchases. “In view of the Russian threat situation, the derived NATO capability goals 2025 for Germany and the associated additional missions for the Bundeswehr in Germany, there are considerable material requirements.”

Germany’s defense splurge will have a strong European focus as Merz seeks to pivot military spending to regional manufactures in a bid to make the continent more independent from US manufacturers, the people said. NATO countries have pledged higher defense spending in light of Russia’s war in Ukraine, as well as concern that the US may not be as committed to defending the region under President Donald Trump’s America First doctrine.

Given Europe’s reliance on the US for most of its military communication via satellites, Germany plans to invest more than €15 billion into the modernization of its military satellite infrastructure over the coming years, the people added.

Top of the military procurement list will be the purchase of 20 additional Eurofighter jets in a contract valued at as much as €3 billion, the people said.

Berlin plans to order as many as 5,000 Boxer armored vehicles in various configurations from domestic manufacturers KNDS and Rheinmetall AG as well as at least 3,500 Patria armored modular vehicles from the Finnish defense manufacturer of the same name.

The Boxers chassis will be manufactured into different kind of vehicles with various functions, including as many as 600 Skyranger air-defense systems, as well as other modifications such as fighting, reconnaissance and medical transport, the people said.

In addition to the armored vehicles, the defense ministry is exploring the purchase of several hundred Leopard 2 battle tanks from KNDS and Rheinmetall, the people added.

The defense ministry is also working on a drone strategy which will lead to various orders worth several billion euros from German manufacturers like Helsing or Quantum Systems, the people said.

One of the biggest challenges for Berlin in coming years will be to put its its expanded military budget to work amid acute production bottlenecks in the defense industry, long waiting lists for new military gear and repeated delays for big-ticket procurement orders such as the F-126 frigate, which has been held back by production setbacks.

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