The rethink of German defense policy centers on a phased buildup of military power stretching into the next decade.<\/p>\n
In the first phase, through 2029, the focus is on “rapidly maximizing” readiness and endurance \u2014 essentially preparing the Bundeswehr to fight and sustain operations at short notice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The second phase, running to 2035, centers on a structured expansion of capabilities across all domains, aligned with NATO targets. <\/p>\n
The final phase, extending toward 2039, aims to transform the Bundeswehr into a technologically advanced military built around innovation and future capabilities.<\/p>\n
Alongside this buildup, the strategy marks a doctrinal shift away from rigid force structures toward a more flexible approach. Instead of defining the military by numbers of tanks or aircraft, planners are instructed to focus on the “effects” the Bundeswehr must deliver \u2014 from long-range strike to air and missile defense.<\/p>\n
The plan also calls for a major personnel expansion, targeting a force of at least 460,000 active and non-active troops. Currently, there around 185,000 active-duty soldiers in the Bundeswehr. The reserve itself is to be elevated to a central pillar of national defense, reflecting Germany\u2019s role as a logistical hub in any future European conflict.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The rethink of German defense policy centers on a phased buildup of military power stretching into the next…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20322,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[6272,367,8097,15,2828,92,1285,8040,14683,2829,481,16,6579,45,76],"class_list":["post-20321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-europe","tag-boris-pistorius","tag-defense","tag-eu-us-military-ties","tag-european","tag-friedrich-merz","tag-germany","tag-military","tag-military-recruitment","tag-military-strategy","tag-missiles","tag-nato","tag-russia","tag-tanks","tag-united-states","tag-war-in-ukraine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20321\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}