Die Zeit1 hour agoPolitics1 min readGermany

Investment backlog in the Bundeswehr: An analysis

Rudolf Scharping and Peter Neumann on the funding gap in German defense

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Rudolf Scharping and Peter Neumann analyze the massive investment backlog in the Bundeswehr.
It is estimated that over 650 billion euros have been missing since the mid-1990s, which will now require massive additional spending in the coming years.

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Why It Matters

Since the mid-1990s, too little has been invested in the Bundeswehr in Germany. This led to a cumulative financing gap of over 650 billion euros.

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Rudolf Scharping was Prime Minister of Rhineland-Palatinate, SPD federal chairman, his party's candidate for chancellor and Federal Minister of Defense from 1998 to 2001. He now works, among other things, as a consultant and lecturer. Peter Neumann is Professor of Security Studies at King's College London.

Germany will spend hundreds of billions of euros on its defense in the coming years. This is necessary because not enough money has flowed into the Bundeswehr since the mid-1990s. Even with a conservative calculation, according to which 0.5 percent of the gross domestic product was under-invested annually, this gap now amounts to more than 650 billion euros over the past three decades.

Open Questions

How are the hundreds of billions of euros actually financed?
Which armaments projects receive priority?

Investment backlog in the Bundeswehr: An analysis

Rudolf Scharping and Peter Neumann on the funding gap in German defense

Quick Look

Rudolf Scharping and Peter Neumann analyze the massive investment backlog in the Bundeswehr.
It is estimated that over 650 billion euros have been missing since the mid-1990s, which will now require massive additional spending in the coming years.

AI-generated summary