German government eyes faster procurement for military equipment

The German military will be able to procure military equipment more quickly in future, according to a draft law presented in Cabinet on Wednesday.

“We want to speed up procurement to make Germany safer,” Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said in Berlin.

The military will be able to use new exemptions from public procurement law to facilitate and accelerate the awarding of contracts for the armed forces, or Bundeswehr, according to the draft law.

The draft law provides for higher limits for the value of contracts that the military can award directly.

Currently, this limit is €15,000 ($17,600), but it should be increased to €50,000, according to German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche.

Military upgrade

Against the backdrop of the threat posed by Russia, and an EU plan to increase the bloc’s military capability, the proposal says that the new purchases must not fall behind due to overly complex procurement procedures or lengthy approval processes.

The proposal states that there are currently no signs that Russia is prepared to end the war against Ukraine through negotiations.

“On the contrary, statements by the Russian leadership indicate that Russia’s war aims go beyond Ukraine,” it says.

“We need more military equipment and we need it faster. This can only be achieved by expanding production,” Economy Minister Reiche said on Wednesday.

Germany is taking on high levels of new debt in order to improve its defence capability, said Reiche.

“We must invest this money in new technologies for air defence, satellite capabilities, drones, autonomous systems, and AI [artificial intelligence] capabilities,” she said.