Reuters: Germany launches massive defense procurement plan to boost its military capabilities
Germany is preparing to launch a wave of defense orders worth billions of Euros, including an order for 20 Eurofighter jets, up to 3,000 Boxer armored vehicles, and around 3,500 Patria infantry fighting vehicles, according to two sources familiar with the plans who spoke to Reuters.
According to Reuters, these purchases are part of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s plan to build the strongest conventional army in Europe, aiming to reduce dependence on an increasingly volatile American ally and assume greater responsibility for the security of the European continent.
Earlier this year, Merz won parliamentary support for exempting defense spending from Germany’s constitutional debt limits, allowing the government to finance military restructuring.
Germany’s regular defense budget is expected to rise to around €83 billion ($95.8 billion) in 2026, an increase of €20 billion over 2025.
The Eurofighter order alone is estimated to cost between 4 and 5 billion Euros, while the Boxer vehicles, manufactured by KNDS and Rheinmetall, are estimated to cost around 10 billion Euros, and the Patria vehicles are estimated to cost around 7 billion Euros, according to a Reuters report.
Deliveries of the Boxer and Patria vehicles are expected to begin within the next decade.
The German Ministry of Defense is also developing plans to purchase more IRIS-T air defense systems, as well as several hundred SkyRanger anti-drone platforms, however, financial details for these purchases have yet to be finalized.
Merz pledged to achieve NATO’s new defense spending benchmark of 3.5% of GDP by 2029, ahead of most other alliance members.
However, Berlin still faces challenges in this area, as following the Russian war in Ukraine, the head of the German military expressed his frustration at the long-standing neglect of troop readiness, noting that the army is standing there almost empty-handed.
