Germany’s armed forces upgrade will take 50 years to complete if it continues at its current sluggish pace, according to an annual report on the state of the Bundeswehr.
Eva H?gl, the parliamentary commissioner for the armed forces, singled out the country’s slow defence procurement hampering the Bundeswehr’s much-needed upgrade. In her 170-page report submitted to parliament on Tuesday, she welcomed the announcement last year by chancellor Olaf Scholz that included a special €100bn fund for military refurbishments and praised decisions to buy F-35 fighter jets, transport helicopters and armed drones.
But H?gl said that even if some new equipment was on its way, in 2022 “not a cent had arrived from the special fund”.