The federal government intends to significantly raise Germany’s defense budget in the coming year. The new budget draft for 2027 envisions a total of 139.6 billion euros for the Bundeswehr—unprecedented since the end of the Cold War. And the Ministry of Defence already names weapon systems into which the money should flow.
Increase in the Defense Budget
“139.6 billion euros are provided in the government’s budget draft — that is 31.4 billion euros more than in the previous year,” reports today the BMVg. The background to these increasing financing resources is mainly the ongoing Russian aggression, which is now directed not only against Ukraine.
For the new defense budget, 109.7 billion euros are to come from the regular defense budget; in 2026 this was 82.7 billion. In addition, 29.9 billion euros come from the Bundeswehr’s special fund, 2026 this value was 25.5 billion.
Focus on Traditional and Modern Capabilities
With the additional funds, both traditional military capabilities and new technologies are to be further expanded. Specifically, the BMVg states: “In order for the Bundeswehr to be prepared for a broad spectrum of possible conflicts, the funds must flow into both proven conventional as well as modern capabilities. These include main battle tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, artillery, frigates, air defense and ammunition stocks as well as unmanned systems, networked reconnaissance, drone defense, space-based capabilities and AI.”
At the same time, the Ministry of Defence stresses: “What matters is the coordination of all capabilities on the battlefield. Technological developments are as central as materiel, personnel and a capable infrastructure.”
Thus the plans align quite well with the experiences from the war in Ukraine. It has shown that modern armed forces today must have both conventional firepower and capable sensors, digital command structures and unmanned systems. What is decisive is less the performance of individual weapon systems than their integration into a networked system of action.
Budget Deliberations Begin
With the introduction of the budget draft, the parliamentary process now begins. The Bundestag will first debate the defense budget or the entire budget draft in a first reading, before the Draft Budget Plan 14 is referred to the Budget Committee. There, detailed deliberations and possible changes follow, before the Parliament makes a final decision. For the current federal budget 2027, the final debate and the by-name final vote are scheduled for the period from November 24 to 27, 2026.
Author: Dorothee Frank, Online Editor-in-Chief
