Germany's Bundeswehr goes on military spending spree

"Germany's military, the Bundeswehr, is currently on a spending spree: it has more than 108 billion ($129 billion) at its disposal this year a gigantic, unprecedented sum. This is being financed both by the official federal budget and special funds, for which the state is taking out loans. This money is intended to make the Bundeswehr, which has been subject to decades of cutbacks, more powerful and modern. There is also time pressure."

"New technology companies are leading the competition among suppliers: the Berlin-based startup Stark Defence and Munich-based Helsing are each set to receive orders worth up to 300 million ($360 million). Prototypes from the more established competitor Rheinmetall had failed to impress Bundeswehr testers. The drones being purchased are officially called "loitering munitions," but are more commonly called kamikaze drones or suicide drones because they dive toward their target and blow themselves up."

Germany is allocating over €108 billion this year through the federal budget and special loan-funded funds to rebuild and modernize the Bundeswehr after decades of cutbacks. Rapid rearmament is driven by worries that Russia could pose a NATO-territory threat as early as 2029. For the first time, the Bundeswehr is ordering several thousand combat drones, acquiring loitering munitions from new suppliers such as Stark Defence and Helsing after Rheinmetall prototypes underperformed. The drones will equip units deployed on NATO’s eastern flank, while parallel investments target drone-defense measures, including jammers and a mix of defensive weapons to close capability gaps.

Read at www.dw.com