Germany’s €83 billion rearmament plan largely excludes US companies

Germany’s new military procurement plan indicates that Berlin will primarily direct its large-scale rearmament drive toward European industry, with only 8% allocated to American weapons.

The procurement plan, obtained by POLITICO, shows that Germany is preparing to approve contracts worth approximately €83 billion next year.

The list, prepared for the German parliament’s budget committee, details 154 major defense acquisitions between September 2025 and December 2026.

According to German law, all contracts valued at over €25 million are submitted for parliamentary approval, and within these pages, projects led by American companies appear in only a few instances.

The only major-budget items led by American companies are approximately €150 million for torpedoes fitted to Boeing’s P-8A aircraft and about €5.1 billion for Raytheon’s MIM-104 Patriot air defense missiles and launchers.

Including other US-led acquisitions on the list, from AMRAAM and ESSM missiles to radio packages, the total amount reaches approximately €6.8 billion, constituting about 8% of Berlin’s plan. The remainder is largely directed to European industry.

After the war in Ukraine, Germany, along with Poland and Japan, had become one of the most significant global destinations for US arms exports. Now, Germany appears to be focusing on European industry.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, European NATO members purchased 64% of their weapons from the US between 2020 and 2024.

Trump wants this to continue. After signing a trade deal with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in July, Trump announced that the EU would purchase “huge amounts” of American weapons worth “hundreds of billions.”

The joint statement from that agreement went even further, committing that the EU “plans to significantly increase its procurement of military and defense equipment from the US, with the support and facilitation of the US government.”

However, defense spending in Europe is determined by national governments, not in Brussels, and in Berlin, the numbers tell a different story.

The most expensive single item is the F-127 frigate program, planned to be designed by the German maritime giant TKMS. The program, scheduled for submission to the budget committee in June 2026, has an estimated cost of €26 billion. The new warships are designed to provide the navy with long-range air and missile defense.

Another significant project is the Eurofighter Tranche 5, produced by Airbus, BAE Systems, and Leonardo. In October 2025, €4 billion will be approved for new aircraft and another €1.9 billion for radar upgrades.

Combined with additional investments in electronic warfare systems and avionics packages, the plan indicates Berlin aims to double its current European fighter jet fleet, compensating for production delays in the troubled next-generation Future Combat Air System (FCAS), which is planned to be built by Germany, France, and Spain.

The army is also a significant part of the plan. In October, a budget of over €3.4 billion is planned for Boxer armored vehicles produced by Rheinmetall and KNDS. Additionally, €3.8 billion will be allocated for a new, unnamed wheeled tank destroyer.

For some projects on the list, such as a €40 million mobile reconnaissance support system called MAUS, funding has been allocated, but a public contractor has not been identified.

Among the politically sensitive programs is the modernization of the Taurus cruise missile, valued at €2.3 billion, which is scheduled for approval in December.

Air defense is another major focus. The plan allocates over €300 million for German-made IRIS-T SLM units, €755 million for ship-launched missiles, and €490 million for new short-range air defense missiles.

One of the riskier projects on the list is the Eurodrone, with €196 million allocated for the development of a “detect and avoid” system, a prerequisite for the unmanned aerial vehicle to fly safely in European airspace.

The program, led by Airbus, Dassault, and Leonardo, has been plagued by delays and rising costs, but Berlin is moving forward with new funding in this budget cycle.

The navy’s share extends beyond future frigates. The modernization of Germany’s existing F-123 frigates will cost €1.7 billion, while a package for submarine combat systems and new torpedoes will add several hundred million euros more.

The document also lists dozens of smaller but still significant contracts: €274 million for a fleet auxiliary ship and hundreds of millions of euros for new trucks, radios, unmanned aerial vehicles, and ammunition of every caliber.

Taken together, these initiatives represent a comprehensive modernization effort affecting every branch of the armed forces.