The German magazine Der Spiegel revealed a severe shortage of Germany’s strategic military reserves after it handed over the bulk of the army’s artillery stocks to Ukraine.
The magazine reported that Defense Minister Boris Pistorius is aiming to buy more munitions faster to fill the largely empty warehouses.
According to Spiegel, the ministry plans to submit nine contracts for the purchase of artillery and tank ammunition to the Bundestag budget committee before the parliamentary summer recess, as the committee must approve all Bundeswehr purchases worth more than 25 million euros before the summer holidays (July 7).
Pistorius is working to encourage a faster acquisition of ammunition to offset the ammunition that was delivered to Ukraine, as Spiegel pointed out that the number of high-explosive fragmentation artillery shells left in Germany is estimated at no more than 20,000 after military aid was delivered to Ukraine. Ukraine.
According to the magazine, Berlin plans to increase its stockpile of 155mm munitions to 230,000 in the coming years. To meet NATO standards, the country must have stocks designed for 30 days of intense fighting.
The ministry refused to provide accurate data on the stocks of ammunition and the needs of the German army until parliamentarians were told that detailed data on the exact stocks of ammunition of the Bundeswehr would endanger the well-being of the state.
The magazine questioned Germany’s ability to produce such a quantity quickly, noting in context that the use of ammunition during the exercise and the possible shipment of additional shipments to Ukraine would lead to a decrease in the number of rounds that Der Spiegel mentioned. The munitions contracts that the ministry intends to submit to the committee include, for the first time, a so-called “crisis or war supply clause.”
Source: German magazine “Spiegel”.