The German Ministry of Defence intends to present 81 major procurement projects to the Budget and Defence Committees for approval this year, according to a classified list originating from the office of Defence Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) The information was reported by the “Handelsblatt
Procurement projects exceeding 25 million euros require prior approval from the Bundestag’s budget auditors Last year, the Federal Office for Equipment, Information and Usage of the Bundeswehr (BAAINBw) set a record with 97 such “25-million-euro projects
Eight projects have already been submitted to the committees, with a further 73 expected to follow by the end of December These include orders for a fifth tranche of the Eurofighter combat jet, light transport helicopters of the Airbus H-145M type, Boxer and Puma tanks and missiles for the Iris-T and Patriot air defence systems Plans also encompass development contracts for an AI-powered system for monitoring large areas along NATO’s eastern flank and a highly precise laser weapon system for the Navy