German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) at a press conference in Berlin (archive image). © IMAGO/Bernd Elmenthaler
The opposition criticises that the government has slept through the "turning point". Meanwhile, German Defense Minister Pistorius is also struggling with the legacy of his predecessors.
Berlin - The German Bundeswehr has enormous shortages of equipment, and aid to Ukraine usually flows from current stocks. The opposition criticises the government for having slept through the first year of the "turning point" it proclaimed. Boris Pistorius (SPD) took over as Federal Minister of Defense in January of this year in the middle of the Ukraine war and is now also struggling with the legacy of his predecessors.
Pistorius sees four "main construction sites" in the Bundeswehr and insists on the time factor
The defense minister expects to be able to remedy the equipment deficiencies in the Bundeswehr "in this decade," as he said in an interview with Welt am Sonntag in early April. In order to achieve this goal, he gave top priority to the time factor in the Bundeswehr in the future. The acceleration of procurement is of "paramount importance". A new basic rule in the Bundeswehr "is the procurement of market-available products with immediate effect," the Federal Ministry of Defense said in April.
Pistorius himself sees four "main construction sites" in the Bundeswehr and first mentions the continuation of support for Ukraine and the recovery of material supplied to it from Bundeswehr stocks. Secondly, Pistorius spoke of national and alliance defence: "We need a Bundeswehr that is ready for action, strong in battle and capable of stamina." He also referred to NATO's commitment to provide it with a complete German division from 2025. Thirdly, "we must relearn to think in terms of major security policy contexts and lines," the Defence Minister warned. The fourth challenge is the money factor.
Contaminated site in the Ministry of Defense: CH-47F Chinook Block II helicopter
Adhering to one's own basic rules is apparently not always consistently feasible, as the example of the CH-47F Chinook Block II transport helicopter shows. The model from the US manufacturer Boeing is to be delivered to the Bundeswehr between 2023 and 2029, at a cost of six billion euros. Pistorius' predecessor Christiane Lambrecht (SPD) rejected a competing offer from the manufacturer Lockheed Martin. The company is relying on a "proven, market-available pattern," it said. In May, the U.S. government's Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) confirmed the possible helicopter delivery. "The German government has applied for the purchase of sixty CH-47F Block II cargo helicopters with custom modifications," the statement said. Apparently, there can be no talk of a market-available pattern, as propagated by Lambrecht.
According to the press release, the cost of the Chinook helicopters amounts to 8.5 billion US dollars (about 7.9 billion euros), which is about two billion euros above budget. The actual value of the contract will be lower, the DSCA said, depending on requirements and the signed purchase agreements, "if they are concluded". So nothing has been signed yet and Pistorius could possibly still opt for Lockheed Martin's competing offer, which, according to the Welt report, would be available within the planned budget and capability framework. However, Lockheed Martin could only deliver 45 helicopters instead of 60 - probably not an ideal solution either.
Puma orders do not cover demand: Money in the double-digit billions is missing
The Puma is considered the most expensive infantry fighting vehicle in the world and at the same time one of the best - even if it does not always work under combat conditions, as a series of breakdowns during a Bundeswehr exercise last year showed. The special fund of the Bundeswehr was also to be used to purchase new Puma tanks. "A lot of things have already been signed, not only for Puma production. There is finally movement in the game," confirmed the CEO of the armaments group Rheinmetall, Armin Papperger, on Friday to Focus. From the 100 billion euro special fund alone, Papperger expects "a high single-digit, if not double-digit billion amount" this year. Pistorius ordered 50 Puma infantry fighting vehicles from Rheinmetall for about one billion euros. "Deliveries are scheduled to begin in December 2025 and be completed by early 2027," the defense company said.
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This does not even come close to covering the needs of the army, at least 111 of these tanks would be needed, criticizes CDU budget politician Ingo Gaedechens, according to a report in Die Welt. "And we haven't even talked about the gaps in the delivery of the Marder infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine." Why, "with such a central weapon system, is not the minister himself cracked down and finally ordered what the troops need?" asks the opposition politician, according to the Welt report.
The answer is probably that the minister lacks money. Despite the special fund, it is estimated that at least a double-digit billion amount is missing to cover the needs of the Bundeswehr. Even with the defense budget of at least ten billion euros more per year demanded by Pistorius, the two percent target demanded by NATO could not be achieved. According to the Federal Minister of Defence, the increase in defence spending of at least two percent of Germany's economic output per year would only be feasible by 2025.
Ammunition production: too late and too little?
According to a report in the Washington Post, Europe's industry is also lagging far behind in the production of weapons and ammunition. 13 months of war have been allowed to pass without boosting industrial production, one expert criticized. A look at the production of ammunition shows what this means in practice: EU production of artillery shells was around 14,500 rounds per month before the start of the war, with the Ukrainian army firing 180,000 artillery shells per month last year and currently needs about 90,000 to 140,000 rounds per month, as military expert Jack Watling of the Royal United Services Institute told the Washington Post.
On the part of the German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall, it was said on Friday that Ukraine currently needs "one million rounds of artillery and a thousand new vehicles", as CEO Pappberger told Focus. It is important "that we help quickly. By the end of the year, we will have supported Ukraine with equipment and ammunition worth a total of 2.5 billion euros," the CEO continued. According to the Bundeswehr Association in November last year, the Bundeswehr itself lacks ammunition worth 20 to 30 billion euros.
Pistorius had already called on the arms industry in April to ramp up its production capacities. Rheinmetall, for example, works in three shifts and has increased the production of 120-millimeter ammunition sixfold, CSU defense politician Florian Hahn pointed out. But there is a lack of orders, so that "not a single cartridge" goes to the Bundeswehr, Hahn criticized, according to a Welt report. This standstill is "no longer acceptable". In December last year, however, the Bundeswehr had already ordered 600,000 rounds of medium-caliber ammunition for the Puma infantry fighting vehicle. However, FDP defense expert Marcus Faber also acknowledged a "massive investment backlog".