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BERLIN — Germany’s armed forces are in trouble just when Europe needs them most.
Germany’s military, or Bundeswehr, is shrinking, aging and still lacks essential equipment despite a considerable increase in defense spending following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to a closely watched annual report on the state of the country’s armed forces.
“The situation is serious,” Eva Högl, the parliamentary commissioner for the armed forces, said Tuesday. “We are still not where we need to be and there is still much to do to improve the conditions for the Bundeswehr.”
Perhaps the Bundeswehr’s greatest problem is its inability to grow despite a concerted recruitment push meant to grow the force to 203,000 troops by 2031. Instead, the Bundeswehr is falling further behind, shrinking by 340 troops to 181,174 at the end of 2024. The force is also getting older to due a lack of young recruits, with the average age rising to 34.
“We must urgently stop and reverse this trend,” Högl warned, calling the atrophy of the Bundeswehr a serious risk to Germany’s defense capabilities.
Despite a €100 billion special fund German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his government pushed through after Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Bundeswehr still lacks the tools to fight a modern war, according to the report, with outdated equipment and a lack of munitions impeding its combat ability. The force needs updated infantry fighting vehicles, naval combat ships, missile defense and more combat drones, among other weapons systems, according to the report.
“The Bundeswehr still has too little of everything,” Högl said.
The German military’s lack of preparedness comes at a time when the United States’ commitment to NATO is more uncertain than at any point in the alliance’s history. U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly called into question America’s willingness to come to Europe’s defense unless Europe spends far more on its own armed forces and has already halted U.S. military aid to Ukraine and stopped intelligence-sharing with the country.
Those moves have prompted the conservative chancellor-in-waiting, Friedrich Merz, to move to effectively exempt defense spending from the strictures of Germany’s debt brake, a radical departure from previous fiscal austerity meant to supply the Bundeswehr with the funding it needs for the long term. Merz’s spending plan, however, must first pass through parliament with the support of the Greens, which is by no means assured.
Germany’s military weakness is due to chronic underinvestment. Germany hit NATO’s 2 percent of gross domestic product defense spending target in 2024 for the first time since 1991, according to World Bank data.
Germany’s troop shortage and lack of equipment also presents challenges when it comes to the country’s role in reinforcing NATO’s eastern flank, including its planned 4,800-strong brigade deployment in Lithuania. Högl called it a “major effort” that stretches Germany’s already thin military resources.
Military infrastructure is another glaring issue. German barracks are in disrepair, with a €67 billion backlog in maintenance and upgrades. Investment in upgrading military bases increased from €1.25 billion in 2023 to €1.6 billion in 2024, but that pace of growth is not sufficient to reverse decades of austerity.
At the same time, the risk of attack on Bundeswehr bases is rising as the facilities become increasingly vulnerable to drone overflights and sabotage. Högl called for better perimeter defenses and stronger counter-drone measures.
