Markus Faber, chairman of the German parliament's defense committee, believes that the Bundeswehr will need up to 35,000 additional soldiers to meet NATO's new defense requirements. This was reported by RND, according to UNN.
Details
NATO's current plans call for an increase in the number of combat-ready brigades from 82 to 131 due to threats from Russia. That is, the Alliance intends to create 49 new large units, each with about 5,000 soldiers.
Assuming that the number of combat brigades in the Alliance increases from 82 to 131 and that Germany participates proportionally, the army will need five divisions instead of the current three divisions of 65,000 soldiers
Thus, according to the official, the number of all divisions will be approximately 100 thousand Bundeswehr soldiers - 35 thousand more than currently estimated.
At the same time, he noted that the creation of these divisions “will take about ten years.
Mr. Feber added that defense spending is also likely to increase.
NATO's demands on all 32 member states will increase, and thus on Germany as well. Therefore, it will no longer be enough to spend 2% of annual economic output on defense. It will have to be 3%,