A 100 billion euro ($108 billion) fund to reform the German army announced by Chancellor Olaf Scholz after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is not enough, the country’s new defense minister said on Friday.
“100 billion will not be enough,” Boris Pistorius, who was sworn in as defense minister last week, told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.
Scholz announced the creation of a fund to modernize the military, known as the Bundeswehr, on February 27, 2022 – just three days after the Russian invasion.
“With every new system we also have new maintenance costs. So with each new device comes new and higher operating costs,” Pistorius said.
He also questioned Germany’s annual defense budget of around 50 billion euros.
“I don’t think it will be enough,” he said.
The army will face billions in new costs as a result of having to replace the weapons it is sending from its stockpiles to Ukraine, Pistorius added.
This new purchase list includes 14 self-propelled howitzers, five Mars II multiple rocket launchers, 500 Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and 28,000 combat helmets, he said.
It will also be necessary to replace 14 Leopard battle tanks, which Berlin agreed to send to Ukraine.
“In the medium and long term, we need to create an arms industry in Europe that can do this,” Pistorius said.
“We need to be faster in procurement,” added the minister, who is due to hold talks with the German defense industry next week.
After years of chronic underinvestment, Scholz vowed in September to transform the country’s army into the “best equipped” in Europe.
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The US is attacking a Chinese firm for helping a Russian group in Ukraine
Washington (AFP), January 26, 2023
The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on a Chinese company for allegedly providing satellite images of Ukraine to help the Russian mercenary group Wagner, while US lawmakers pushed for tougher action against Beijing. The Treasury Department and State Department announced a series of actions as they officially designated Wagner’s group a transnational criminal organization, a move announced by the White House last week. The new sanctions “will further hamper the Kremlin’s ability to… read on
https://www.spacewar.com/reports/100_billion_for_German_army_not_enough_defence_minister_999.html 100 billion is “not enough” for the German army: the Minister of Defense
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