Germany NATO wants to expand defense capabilities to the extreme
In view of the continuing threat posed by Russia, NATO wants to greatly expand its military capabilities for deterrence and defense.
04.06.2025, 04:43
SDA
As the German Press Agency has learned from alliance circles, the plan is to increase the current targets by around 30 percent. In future, for example, significantly more long-range cruise missiles and drones as well as capacities in areas such as air defense and artillery are to be provided.
To ensure that the targets are met, Germany and the other member states will now be assigned new national planning targets. They are to be formally adopted this Thursday at a meeting of defense ministers in Brussels.
The new targets are considered to be a particularly great challenge because the existing targets are still far from being met. Senior military officials recently spoke of a gap of 30 percent.
Targets are classified as top secret
The specific new national planning targets are currently still classified as top secret. However, it is expected that some details will be made public once the targets have been approved by the defense ministers.
For Germany, military experts assume that the current 182,000-strong Bundeswehr will have to grow by a high five-digit figure if the Federal Republic wants to achieve the planning targets assigned to it. In addition, considerable investments in new air defense systems, for example, will be necessary.
Allies will have to invest billions
The planned new target for defense spending is also derived from the current deficits and the new planning targets. At the summit meeting at the end of the month, all NATO members are to commit to investing at least 3.5 percent of their national gross domestic product (GDP) in defense. A further 1.5 percent of GDP could then be added for defense-related expenditure - for example on infrastructure - so that the five percent quota demanded by US President Donald Trump is ultimately achieved.
According to Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, the share of defense spending in German economic output is to increase by 0.2 percentage points per year over a period of five to seven years. From last year's figure of 2.1 percent, a ratio of 3.5 percent could then be achieved by 2032.
According to Chancellor Friedrich Merz, every percentage point increase for Germany would currently mean an increase of around 45 billion euros in defense spending. A total of five percent would currently require spending of 225 billion euros per year. To put this into perspective, the total expenditure of the federal budget amounted to around 466 billion euros last year.
Trump wants new burden sharing
The background to the plans is the assessment of intelligence services that Russia could be ready for further military aggression in Europe in just a few years, despite the ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine. However, both the new national planning targets for defense capabilities and the new quota are also intended to meet the US demand for a more balanced burden-sharing within the alliance. In contrast to most other alliance states, the United States has been spending significantly more than three percent of its economic output on defense for many years.
Trump now wants the Europeans to take on significantly more responsibility for security on their continent in future. Ideally, they should provide all conventional defense capabilities themselves in the future. The USA would then only have to guarantee nuclear deterrence in Europe.
