NATO increases defense budgets: Germany has to upgrade massively!

NATO increases defense budgets: Germany has to upgrade massively!

With regard to the increasing security concerns by Russia, the NATO countries are planning a significant increase in their defense skills. This can be seen particularly in the context of a new military requirement that provides for an increase in air defense skills by around 30 percent. According to Merkur the acceptance of these new planning goals is expected.

The measures include in particular the purchase of more marching aircraft, drones and additional capacities in air defense and artillery. These innovations are both a response to the current threat situation by Russia and an answer to the extensive investments of the Kremlin in military equipment, which according to Manager Magazin fail as the expenditure of most European countries.

increased defense spending

With the aim of achieving the national defense goals, a significant increase in troop strength is also sought. The Bundeswehr is expected to grow by a high five -digit number of soldiers. These plans require considerable investments in new air defense systems, whereby NATO members are supposed to commit at least 3.5 percent of their national GDP for defense. In the future, another sentence of 1.5 percent could be planned for defense-relevant expenditure, with Merkur Pistorius plans an annual increase in defense spending by 0.2 percentage points.

The goal is to reach a quota of 3.5 percent by 2032, based on 2.1 percent in the previous year. Chancellor Friedrich Merz estimates that each percentage point means over 45 billion euros in additional defense spending. Last year, the total expenditure of the federal budget amounted to around 466 billion euros.

international reactions and strategic considerations

The background considerations for these new plans are primarily shaped by the assessment that Russia could again strive for aggression in Europe in the near future. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly demanded a fairer load division within NATO that calls on European countries to assume more responsibility for their conventional defense skills, while the United States continues to guarantee nuclear deterrence.

The NATO countries are planning to issue around 2.71 percent of their GDP for defense by 2024, which corresponds to a total of around $ 1.5 trillion. Tagesschau reports that the European Allies and Canada are raised about 2.02 percent of GDP, which corresponds to $ 507 billion. In 2024 it is found that Germany is for the first time with 2.12 percent above the two percent target.

The increasing expenses are partly due to the perception of the threat situation, which is additionally reinforced by the Russian attack war on Ukraine. In this context, it is remarkable that in 2024 23 NATO member states will probably spend at least 2 percent of their GDP for defense, with leaders Poland and Estonia with 4.12 or 3.43 percent.