Berlin plans a rearmament to make the Bundeswehr \u201cthe strongest conventional army in Europe,\u201d internal documents show<\/p>\n
Germany is preparing a \u20ac377 billion ($440 billion) expansion of its armed forces, Politico reported on Monday, citing internal government documents. The move is part of a broader militarization drive across the EU.
\nThe files reportedly detail a plan for new weapons and equipment projects across the Bundeswehr\u2019s land, air, naval, space, and cyber forces. The long-term rearmament effort is expected to stretch beyond the 2026 budget.
\nThe plan lists about 320 new projects, with roughly half of the funds set to go to German arms producers. Rheinmetall will supply tanks, air-defense systems, and ammunition worth tens of billions of euros, while Diehl Defence is expected to provide its IRIS-T missiles.
\nThe package covers spending on satellites, drones, and naval programs. Around \u20ac14 billion is allocated for space projects, including a low-orbit network for military communications, while other funds would go to new reconnaissance and patrol systems. It also includes US-made weapons such as F-35 fighter jets and Tomahawk cruise missiles.<\/p>\n
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Major contracts will still require approval from the parliamentary budget committee once they are ready for implementation, Politico wrote.
\nBerlin has changed its budget rules to permit long-term defense spending beyond the \u20ac100-billion fund created after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022.
\nChancellor Friedrich Merz has vowed to turn the Bundeswehr into the \u201cstrongest conventional army in Europe,\u201d in a speech delivered shortly after the world marked the 80th anniversary of the fall of the Third Reich in May. German officials have set 2029 as the deadline for the Bundeswehr to be \u201cwar-ready,\u201d citing alleged Russia threat. Moscow dismissed the claim as \u201cnonsense\u201d aimed at justifying higher Western military budgets.
\nRussian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accused Merz of seeking to transform Germany back into \u201cthe main military machine of Europe,\u201d saying Berlin\u2019s policies prove its \u201cdirect involvement\u201d in the proxy war against Russia. He also warned that the wider EU was sliding into what he described as a \u201cFourth Reich.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Germany has become Ukraine\u2019s second-largest arms supplier after the US. It sent the Leopard tanks used in Kiev\u2019s failed incursion into Russia\u2019s Kursk Region.
\nThe buildup comes as Germany faces what economists have called a \u201cdramatic\u201d decline, with stagnating growth and weakening industry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Berlin plans a rearmament to make the Bundeswehr \u201cthe strongest conventional army in Europe,\u201d internal documents show Germany is preparing a \u20ac377 billion ($440 billion) expansion of its armed forces,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21327,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t