German Armed Forces to receive new weapons

BERLIN, April 23 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel's government wants to provide the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) with new weapons following debate over its ability to participate in international missions, German media reported on Monday.

A spokesperson for the ministry of defense confirmed that the Federal Parliament (Bundestag) had received a comprehensive list of procurement projects but refused to provide any details with regards to its exact content. A series of recent reports has drawn attention to the inadequacy of the existing military equipment despite promises of ambitious reform first made by defense minister Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) back in 2015.

According to the newspapers "Handelsblatt" and "BILD", the list presented to parliament includes 18 individual procurement projects which are each worth more than 25 million euros (30.6 million U.S. dollars). Among others, the Armed Forces, will reportedly receive new helicopters, transport aircraft, rocket launchers and will lease Israeli "Heron TP" drones.

The spokesperson for the minister of defense told press that the Heron drones would be delivered in a state in which it could be "weaponized" but emphasized that the decision to acquire weapons was a "distinct" decision from this procurement process.

The clarification was made necessary by a clause in the current government's "coalition agreement" which states that the "procurement of weapons will be decided on its own by the German federal parliament following comprehensive discussions on the implications thereof for international law, constitutional law and ethical considerations."

The lease of Heron drones was championed as a key procurement project during the last term of von der Leyen as defense minister but ultimately failed to materialize on account of resistance from the German Social Democrats (SPD).

MINISTER: MORE FUNDS REQUIRED

Additionally, media cited information from the ministry of defense that the Armed Forces would witness an augmentation and modernization of their military equipment by 18 new rocket launchers of the "MARS II" type, seven rescue helicopters, six "Hercules" transportation aircraft, as well as 32 tractor units to transport weapons amongst others. "Handelsblatt" noted, however, that the civil servants it had spoken to still described the list as "preliminary". Ultimately, the exact volume and composition of procurement projects would depend on the new government's first federal budget which is currently being deliberated.

Von der Leyen has argued that more funds for German soldiers are urgently required to ensure the "sustainability of our Armed Forces and Germany's reliability towards our close partners." An existing budget plan by ex-finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble (CDU) forecasts a rise in Germany's annual defense spending from 37 billion euros in 2017 to 42.4 billion euros in 2021. The coalition agreement underpinning Merkel's fourth cabinet promises additional investment of 250 million euros per year for the Armed Forces.

The recently-appointed finance minister Olaf Scholz (SPD) has announced the presentation of the 2018 federal budget for the end of April. Scholz expressed confidence that the spending plan could subsequently be approved by the federal parliament in early July. Enditem