German defense minister sees smooth sailing in parliament for his record defense budget

VIENNA — German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius told reporters after a Bundestag defense committee hearing on Wednesday that lawmakers had shown “much agreement” on his ministry’s record 2027 budget request, even as he pushed back against criticism that Germany is buying too much legacy hardware rather than new technology.

Pistorius is asking parliament to approve nearly €140 billion ($160 billion) for defense next year, combining €109.7 billion from the core ministry budget — a 32.7% increase over 2026 — with roughly €30 billion drawn from the expiring Sondervermögen Bundeswehr, a special off-budget fund created in 2022 following Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

The committee session Wednesday was part of ongoing scrutiny before the Bundestag’s final vote, expected in the chamber’s third reading on Nov. 27, following a reconciliation session in the budget committee on November 12.

Speaking after the closed-door meeting, Pistorius rejected accusations — raised by some lawmakers and commentators — that the procurement plan favors old technology over modernization. He pointed to the Leopard 2A8 tank as a “high-tech” system rather than legacy equipment, and announced that the ministry will launch its first-ever dedicated funding program for civilian universities and research institutes working on defense-relevant technologies, including artificial intelligence and unmanned systems.

On the Franco-German Main Ground Combat System, Pistorius acknowledged that the program’s original design may not survive in its current form. A day earlier, Germany and France had published a joint announcement that the project would be transitioned to pursuing “platform-independent technology” rather than a main battle tank. Pistorius said Berlin and Paris would need to agree “in the coming weeks” on shifting toward “a different, restructured project” given a threat environment he described as markedly changed from four or five years ago. The joint next-generation tank concept traces back all the way to 2012.

Despite unified opposition from the right-wing AfD, the Greens and far-left Die Linke — who call the spending plan fiscally reckless or insufficiently transparent — the governing coalition holds the votes needed to pass the budget.