An undated image shows a German soldier guiding the loading of a Panzerhaubitze onto a railway car during an exercise in Lithuania. BERLIN — Germany is rearming too slowly to counter Russia and will need as long as a century to build up parts of its military inventory to the level of 20 years ago, according to a think tank report released Monday. Researchers say it is too little, too late.
The German government has ordered a yearly average of 14 combat aircraft, Germany's stock of howitzers and other critical military systems has plummeted over the past two decades, according to a recently released Kiel Institute report. Training shells sit next to a Leopard 1 A5 on June 13, , at Klietz training range, Germany, where Ukrainian troops train to drive and shoot the Danish and German-donated battle tanks.
The report criticizes German budget planning and says the defense industry cannot sufficiently expand production capacity because it is not clear how much money Berlin will be willing to spend on the military once its special defense fund is exhausted. It has also increased its capacity to produce drones more than sixfold, according to the report. Germany budgeted 52 billion euros in its regular defense budget this year.
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Sign Up Now. Theaters U. Europe Germany would need up to years at current rearmament pace to deter Russia, report says By Svetlana Shkolnikova. Svetlana Shkolnikova. Svetlana Shkolnikova covers Congress for Stars and Stripes. Sign Up for Daily Headlines Sign up to receive a daily email of today's top military news stories from Stars and Stripes and top news outlets from around the world.
