German defence minister stresses need to quickly rearm Bundeswehr

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius stressed the need to better equip the Bundeswehr as quickly as possible on a visit to the military's Attack Helicopter Regiment 36 in the western German state of Hesse on Tuesday.

Pistorius said that Russia is expected to have reconstituted its military from the war in Ukraine by 2029 and could then be in a position to launch a military strike against NATO territory.

Germany therefore needs to adapt to this threat scenario as quickly as possible, the minister explained.

Germany is the largest NATO partner in Europe and, according to Pistorius, has "a corresponding responsibility" to live up to.

Pistorius did not give a specific answer to the question of how much money would be needed to sufficiently re-equip the Bundeswehr, pointing out that while more money is necessary, it is not the only limiting factor.

He explained that even if the Bundeswehr had more money, it would take time to ramp up production as "industry would still need to process the orders."

The Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) think tank recently criticized Germany for its slow rearmament, predicting in its latest report in September that at the current pace of procurement, it would take many years to get the inventory back to the 2004 level – around 15 years for fighter jets and around 40 years for battle tanks.

According to the IfW, this is due both to Germany's drastic disarmament over recent decades and the still sluggish pace of rearmament under the current government. Stocks have also been sent to Ukraine to help fight off the Russians.