The German armed forces have three years to procure equipment to face a possible Russian attack on NATO territory, said the head of military procurement Annette Lehnigk-Emden on Saturday.
Defense has become a political agenda priority since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and recently the United States (U.S.)has also been encouraging NATO members to increase their commitments.
“Everything necessary for full readiness to defend the country must be procured by 2028,” said Annette Lehnigk-Emden, head of the Federal Office for Military Procurement.
The army chief, General Carsten Breuer, recently warned that Russia could be in a position to “launch a large-scale attack on NATO territory” as early as 2029.
He said that Russia is stockpiling ammunition and tanks for a possible attack on NATO’s Baltic members.
Lehnigk-Emden emphasized that the new government of Chancellor Friedrich Merz enables the upgrade by allocating hundreds of billions of euros for defense. She said the priority will be heavy equipment such as Skyranger anti-aircraft tanks.
Merz has made armament a priority of his coalition government in order to make it the most powerful conventional army in Europe. Rearmament had already begun under the previous government of Olaf Scholz after Russia started the war in Ukraine.
United States (U.S.) President Donald Trump further raised the temperature this year by encouraging NATO members to increase their military spending to five percent of GDP from the current level of two percent.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius stated on Thursday that in the coming years 50.000 to 60.000 new soldiers will be needed to meet NATO’s increased military requirements.
Last year the army had more than 180.000 members and set a goal to exceed 203.000 people by the year 2031, Klix.ba writes.
