“A window of only three years.” What goal for re -arming has the country that promised to have the most powerful army in Europe
German soldiers near a Boxer military vehicle, a new type of staff armored carrier, at a Berlin barracks. Photo: Henry Nicholls, Pa Images / Alamy / Profimedia
The German army, Bundeswehr, has three years to purchase the equipment necessary to ensure defense in the face of a possible Russian attack on NATO territory, his responsible with military purchases said, according to AFP and Agerpres.
“Everything that is necessary to be completely operational for the defense of the country must be purchased until 2028,” said the president of the Federal Office for Military Procurement, Annette Lehnig-Emden, in an interview with the Berlin daily Tagespiegel.
This statement comes after the inspector general of the Bundeswehr, Carsten Breuer, claimed that Russia, despite losses in the Ukraine war, could be able to “launch a large-scale attack on NATO” since 2029.
The German army will have to have all the necessary weapons in advance, in 2028, as “soldiers need time to train to use new equipment,” said the military purchases.
It considers this achievable objective, given the continuous simplification of the procurement procedures for military equipment and the hundreds of billions of euros allocated for arming by the new government of Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who promised that under his leadership he will have “the strongest army in Europe”.
The Merz Chancellor invokes Russia's danger to the US congressmans: “It is clear that they have no idea what is going on there.”
Up to 60,000 new soldiers in the coming years
The respective military procurement office will send until the end of this year to the Bundestag, the lower Chamber of the German Federal Parliament, equipment purchase plans, with priority on heavy weapons, such as SkyRang's anti -aircraft tanks or the armored vehicle for the transport of bands to replace the Fuchs armored carrier. Also, contracts were signed for the production of additional leopard tanks.
But the Bundeswehr must also address the problem of insufficient herds, given that in Germany military service is no longer mandatory. The German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius estimated on Thursday that 50,000 to 60,000 new soldiers will be needed in the coming years for the increased defense capabilities required by NATO. The German army had over 180,000 soldiers in 2024.
