Germany is preparing a wave of major defence procurement orders worth tens of billions of euros, as part of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s ambitious campaign to transform the country’s military into Europe’s most powerful conventional force. Two sources familiar with the plans said that the purchases will include 20 Eurofighter jets, up to 3,000 Boxer armoured vehicles, and as many as 3,500 Patria infantry fighting vehicles.
The sweeping defence initiative reflects Germany’s intent to reduce reliance on an increasingly unpredictable United States and assume greater responsibility for European security. Chancellor Merz has made military modernisation a cornerstone of his leadership, pledging to rebuild Germany’s defence capabilities after years of neglect.
Earlier this year, Merz secured parliamentary approval to exempt defence spending from Germany’s constitutionally mandated debt limits, allowing his government to pursue the largest military overhaul in decades. Under the new fiscal framework, Germany’s annual defence budget is expected to climb to €83 billion ($95.8 billion) by 2026, up from €63 billion in 2025.
According to sources, the Eurofighter jet order alone is projected to cost between €4 billion and €5 billion, while the Boxer vehicles, built by KNDS and Rheinmetall, are estimated at €10 billion. The Patria fighting vehicles, designed for troop transport and combat support, will likely cost another €7 billion. Deliveries for the Boxer and Patria platforms are expected to span the next decade.
In addition to these purchases, Germany’s defence ministry is also advancing plans to acquire IRIS-T air defence systems and several hundred SkyRanger drone defence platforms. While financial details for those acquisitions are still being finalised, the moves underscore Berlin’s commitment to bolstering its defensive capabilities across multiple domains.
Merz has pledged that Germany will meet NATO’s new defence spending benchmark of 3.5% of GDP by 2029, well ahead of many alliance members. The move comes amid mounting concerns about European readiness, especially following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The invasion exposed deep vulnerabilities within the German military, prompting the country’s army chief at the time to lament that the Bundeswehr was “standing there more or less empty-handed.” The new procurement plan is widely seen as a response to that critique and a signal of Germany’s evolving role in global and regional security.
Germany’s defence ministry has yet to publicly comment on the reported figures, while alternative estimates have also been cited by other outlets, including Bloomberg. Nonetheless, the scale of the planned investments underscores a historic turning point in Germany’s post-war defence posture.
Melissa Enoch
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