The Bundeswehr in the national security strategy
Today the federal government presented the first national security strategy in the history of the Federal Republic. She chose the “integrated security” approach for the strategy document. This means that security is viewed comprehensively and is not limited to military security alone.
But what role does the Bundeswehr in particular play within the new security strategy?
First of all, the strategy paper makes it clear: “The core mission of the Bundeswehr is national and alliance defense; all tasks are subordinate to this mission. The federal government will maintain the necessary military capabilities and quickly close capability gaps.” In addition, the Bundeswehr will also have to take on foreign missions in the area of “international crisis management” in the future.
Overall, the federal government plans to make the Bundeswehr “one of the most powerful conventional armed forces in Europe” in the next few years, which is “capable of reacting and acting quickly and permanently”.
Budget adjustment necessary
In order to finance this claim, the federal government aims to invest particularly heavily in defense and defense capability. To this end, NATO's two percent target should be achieved on an average over several years, initially with the help of the Bundeswehr's special funds.
At today's press conference, Finance Minister Christian Linder announced that the NATO target will be met in the coming financial year, taking into account the defense budget and the special fund. The minister also made it clear that in the coming years the priorities in budget negotiations would have to adapt to the new security situation and that it would be inevitable to delete important projects from other departments in favor of security policy projects.
In addition to the financial resources required to ensure the Bundeswehr's operational readiness, the Federal Government's demand to demonstrate an increasing military presence in alliance territory will also require further resources. On the one hand, this is intended to contribute to the protection of the alliance partners, and on the other hand, it is also intended to offer itself as a support partner for the allies, it is said.
Introduction of stand-off precision weapons
The paper mentions the expansion of cyber and space capabilities as concrete projects in which the performance of the Bundeswehr is to be increased, “so that they can make a significant contribution to deterrence and defense in NATO.”
In addition, it is said that the federal government wants to promote the development and introduction of future capabilities such as “standoff-capable precision weapons”.
The Federal Government is clear about nuclear participation and writes: “As long as there are nuclear weapons, maintaining a credible nuclear deterrent is essential for NATO and for the security of Europe. Germany will continue to make its contribution to this within the framework of nuclear sharing and will provide the necessary carrier aircraft without interruption.”
With regard to the Bundeswehr, the national security strategy primarily confirms the development within German politics as it developed following the Russian attack on Ukraine in February of last year. There is nothing surprising or new. The sole emphasis on the need to introduce standoff precision weapons is an exception here. The fact that this category of weapons is the only one explicitly mentioned may indicate the urgent need for such systems for the Bundeswehr.
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