Germany injects funding into land, sea and air programmes

The Budget Committee of the German Parliament has given the green light to about €600 million of investment in a series of defence procurement programmes.

A total of 44 new tracked armoured engineering vehicles (based on the Leopard 2A4 main battle tank) will be acquired for €295 million to replace the Pionierpanzer Dachs, which entered service in 1989.

The German Navy will equip two of its Braunschweig-class (K130) corvettes with an undisclosed number of Skeldar V-200 VTOL UAVs (known as Sea Falcon in German service), in a two-phase procurement programme worth €78 million.

Six other countries have already ordered the V-200, according to Shephard Defence Insight.

‘In a pilot phase, the drones will be adapted to the needs of the Bundeswehr, and a subsystem consisting of two [Sea Falcon] aircraft and a ground control station for the corvette will be delivered and installed,’ the German Armed Forces announced on 14 April.

Subsequently, the navy will acquire two additional systems – one for training, including the simulator component – plus control stations and other onboard equipment.

In addition, the German Armed Forces are renting seven Airbus H135 helicopters for €63 million from ADAC Luftfahrttechnik until the end of 2024. These helicopters will be based at the International Helicopter Training Centre in Bückeburg.

The EC135 is an interim solution until a new light multipurpose helicopter enters service in the mid-2020s.

‘In addition to a high availability of the machines, the rental model is also more economical than a temporary dissolution for the planned transition period,’ the German Armed Forces explained.

The German Air Force fleet of Tornado fighter aircraft will receive a new radar warning system, requiring €105 million of investment, as there are no spare parts available for the existing system in the medium term.

In terms of multinational operations and with the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) 2023 deployment in mind, the German Armed Forces is spending €59 million on enabling data exchange, IT networking and the coordinated use of platforms, sensors and systems. 

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Related Equipment in Defence Insight

Skeldar V-200

Braunschweig Class (K130)