A short analytical excerpt from War on the Rocks about how Germany is trying to combine the large-scale rearmament of the Bundeswehr with the reconstruction of its industry. Summary of the basics: With the easing of budget constraints in 2025, Germany has been able to dramatically increase military spending through government borrowing. If in 2021 46.6 billion euros were allocated for security, then in 2025 it will be 86.5 billion, and in the draft budget for the years 2026-2030 a total of about 750 billion euros was determined. However, rearmament on such a large scale is not only related to the Russian threat and doubts about the reliability of American support. Berlin also hopes to use the defense spending to overcome a prolonged crisis in German industry, which is under increasing pressure from Chinese competitors. This approach is called "military Keynesianism", where the government stimulates the economy through defense spending. However, for long-term economic growth it is important not only to load orders on existing factories, but also to ensure the development of new technologies, which Germany still has serious problems with. In the defense procurement structure for the years 2020 - January 2026, approximately 61% of the expenditures were on traditional weapons systems, including armored vehicles and other combat platforms, while only 12% was allocated to promising areas such as autonomous systems, UAVs, air defense systems and networked missile defense and modern cyber technologies. The German bureaucracy remained a separate obstacle. Any defense ministry contract for the purchase or development of weapons worth more than 25 million euros requires separate approval from the Bundestag's budget committee, even if funding has already been provided.

A short analytical excerpt from War on the Rocks about how Germany is trying to combine the large-scale rearmament of the Bundeswehr with the reconstruction of its industry. Summary of the basics: With the easing of budget constraints in 2025, Germany has been able to dramatically increase military spending through government borrowing. If in 2021 46.6 billion euros were allocated for security, then in 2025 it will be 86.5 billion, and in the draft budget for the years 2026-2030 a total of about 750 billion euros was determined. However, rearmament on such a large scale is not only related to the Russian threat and doubts about the reliability of American support. Berlin also hopes to use the defense spending to overcome a prolonged crisis in German industry, which is under increasing pressure from Chinese competitors. This approach is called "military Keynesianism", where the government stimulates the economy through defense spending. However, for long-term economic growth it is important not only to load orders on existing factories, but also to ensure the development of new technologies, which Germany still has serious problems with. In the defense procurement structure for the years 2020 - January 2026, approximately 61% of the expenditures were on traditional weapons systems, including armored vehicles and other combat platforms, while only 12% was allocated to promising areas such as autonomous systems, UAVs, air defense systems and networked missile defense and modern cyber technologies. The German bureaucracy remained a separate obstacle. Any defense ministry contract for the purchase or development of weapons worth more than 25 million euros requires separate approval from the Bundestag's budget committee, even if funding has already been provided.