Germany aims for military powerhouse status with €20 billion budget hike

Germany is preparing a major series of multi-billion-euro defence acquisitions that include 20 Eurofighter jets, up to 3,000 Boxer armoured vehicles, and as many as 3,500 Patria infantry fighting vehicles, according to two sources familiar with the plans who spoke to Reuters.

These purchases are part of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s ambitious strategy to build Europe’s strongest conventional military force. The move aims to reduce Germany’s reliance on an increasingly unpredictable United States and to take a more active role in European security.

Earlier this year, Merz secured parliamentary approval to exempt defence spending from Germany’s constitutionally mandated debt limits, paving the way for substantial funding of the country’s military modernisation.

Germany’s regular defence budget is projected to rise significantly, reaching around 83 billion euros ($95.8 billion) in 2026 — a 20 billion euro increase from 2025.

The Eurofighter jet order alone is estimated to cost between 4 billion and 5 billion euros, while the procurement of Boxer armoured vehicles, manufactured by KNDS and Rheinmetall, is projected at approximately 10 billion euros. The Patria infantry fighting vehicles are expected to cost roughly 7 billion euros.

Deliveries of the Boxer and Patria platforms are planned over the next decade, according to the sources.

In addition to these large-scale acquisitions, the German defence ministry is advancing plans to purchase more IRIS-T air defence systems and several hundred SkyRanger drone defence platforms. However, financial details for these projects have yet to be finalised.

Bloomberg also reported on Germany’s procurement plans, though with some variation in the figures cited.

Merz has pledged to meet NATO’s new target of spending 3.5% of GDP on defence by 2029 — a goal Germany plans to reach well ahead of most NATO members.

Still, the country has considerable ground to make up. Shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the chief of the German army openly criticised the long-standing neglect of military preparedness, stating that the Bundeswehr was “standing there more or less empty-handed.”

By Tamilla Hasanova