By Jim Morris, Warrior Vice President, News
Germany has been criticized by the US and other NATO allies for not spending enough on defense. Now, Chancellor Olaf Scholz wants to something about that – before the country holds its next elections in 2025.
On Wednesday, Germany announced plans to buy 20 more Eurofighters in a deal valued at up to $4.3 billion , including maintenance and logistics. The Luftwaffe has 38 of the jets on back order and has 138 Eurofighters already in service. It’s built by the UK’s BAE Systems, Airbus and Italy’s Leonardo.
The purchase is the latest in a German spending spree on defense that began when Scholz announced a special $109 billion budget to bolster the military after Russia invaded Ukraine.
In a speech at this week’s Berlin air show, Scholz repeated his promise that Germany will achieve the NATO goal of spending at least two percent of its gross domestic product on defense. Last year, German defense spending was well below that mark – about 1.5% of GDP. The Eurofighter deal should help Scholz reach the target this year.
Germany is under budget pressures and tax revenues are expected to be lower this year. Still, defense is the only sector of government spending hat’s likely to see significant growth.
The Eurofighter is a twin-engined supersonic jet that went into service in 2003. It’s now flown by the air forces of Germany, the UK, Spain, Italy, Austria, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and Qatar. The plane was designed to be a dogfighter, but later models incorporated changes to allow for air-to-surface strike missions.
Meanwhile, at the Berlin air show, Airbus is touting its Future Combat Air System FCAS, which is designed to be used with next-generation fighters and drones connected by what the company calls a “combat cloud.”
Airbus plans for an incremental roll-out of FCAS capabilities in the next few years, and says it should be replace existing combat systems by 2040. But there’s speculation that target date will slip. So European air forces have been hedging their bets by upgrading their existing fighter fleets.
The German defense industry is thrilled to see the added spending , although in a statement Wednesday the industry lobbies said it is still not enough to cover the German military’s needs.
One German defense contractor, Rheinmetall, just built a plant in central Germany where it will build 200,000 artillery shells a year. “The construction of our new factory is a direct result of the changing times,” said CEO Armin Papperger, whose company began boosting output after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Rheinmetall also announced plans to build a factory for 155mm artillery shells in Lithuania. The Lithuanian government called the factory “important for Lithuania, Ukraine and our entire region,” saying that Russia would remain the biggest threat to Europe for decades to come.
