German parliament to approve €2.6B in fresh military kit 

BERLIN — Germany’s Bundestag budget committee is planning to sign off on over €2.6 billion in new military programs, according to a confidential list seen by POLITICO.

The approvals, set for next week, mark another broad procurement round as Berlin ramps up defense spending and reenergizes its arms industry.

The 11-item package includes almost every capability area: drones, long-range missiles, soldier systems, logistics vehicles and critical radar upgrades. 

For Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government, it’s another step toward making the Bundeswehr a war-ready force while giving German manufacturers a steadier pipeline of long-term orders.

Some of the biggest checks are being written for drones.

MPs will clear about €68 million for Uranos KI, an AI-enabled reconnaissance network built in competing versions by Airbus Defence and Space and German defense-AI company Helsing. Another €86 million will keep the German Heron TP, operated by Airbus DS Airborne Solutions and based on Israel’s Heron TP, flying into the 2030s. Roughly €16 million will go to Aladin, a short-range reconnaissance drone developed by Munich-based startup Quantum Systems.

Air power also gets a significant boost.

MPs are set to approve around €445 million for a new batch of Joint Strike Missiles, produced by Norway’s Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace and integrated for Germany’s incoming Lockheed Martin F-35A fleet. Separate contracts worth €37 million will replace obsolete radar components on Eurofighter jets. 

NH90 naval helicopters, built by NHIndustries — a consortium of Airbus Helicopters, Leonardo and Fokker — will receive a parallel radar upgrade, as the model returned to headlines after Norway settled a long-running availability dispute with the manufacturer.

At the soldier level, the Bundeswehr will move forward with close to €760 million for new G95 assault rifles from Heckler & Koch, nearly €490 million for laser-light modules supplied by Rheinmetall Soldier Electronics, and about €140 million for headset-based communications systems produced by Rheinmetall Electronics with major subcontractors 3M and CeoTronics.

And in a sign of Berlin’s effort to rebuild military logistics at scale, MPs will approve roughly €380 million for off-road military trucks from Mercedes-Benz and around €175 million for heavy tank-transport trailers built by DOLL. These contracts directly feed Germany’s defense-industrial base as Berlin pushes industry to deliver at wartime speed.