A successor model should no longer be financed from the special fund for the Bundeswehr.
(Photo: imago images/Sven Eckelkamp)
Berlin The Federal Ministry of Defense has revised the list of planned procurements from the 100 billion euro special fund for the Bundeswehr. Because there is not enough money, individual projects have to be postponed or financed from the regular defense budget. The Handelsblatt learned this from defense and budget politicians who were informed in a video conference on Friday.
There are a total of six projects, with the navy being particularly affected. For the time being, no further ships of the frigate 126 are to be purchased beyond the four already ordered. An option for two more ships is therefore initially not drawn.
The Frigate 126 is a collaborative project between the Dutch Damen Shipyards Group, the Thales Group and the German Lürssen shipyard. Around 5.6 billion euros have been budgeted for the four ships, and construction is scheduled to begin next year.
Originally, further type K 130 corvettes were to be financed for the Navy from the special fund. This plan was canceled, however, and any procurements – probably in reduced quantities – would then have to be financed from the regular defense budget.
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In the case of the Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime reconnaissance aircraft and submarine hunter, the Bundeswehr had to be satisfied with a smaller number of units. Five of the US manufacturer’s aircraft have already been ordered, and the budget committee released additional funds for them in the summer.
The Navy gets fewer sea patrol aircraft than planned
The contemplated increase in the order to twelve machines will probably not come about. The Ministry of Defense is now only planning to purchase three more aircraft. The Poseidon is scheduled to replace the outdated Lockheed P-3C Orion by the end of 2024.
In the case of the IDAS missile, which is intended to protect submarines from attacks from the air, only the development costs are shown in the special fund, but no longer the procurement. The system is being developed jointly by the German manufacturers Diehl Defense and Thyssen-Krupp Marine Systems.
The army has to think about a successor to the Fuchs armored transport vehicle, which should also be financed from the special fund. In June, the federal government signed a declaration of intent to join the Finnish-led CAVS program, which aims to develop a modern wheeled armored vehicle. It is unclear whether and how many tanks the Bundeswehr will ultimately buy.
The last deletion concerns an air defense system, especially against drone attacks, which is initially being postponed.
As the Handelsblatt had already reported, adjustments have become necessary because high inflation and exchange rate fluctuations are making planned armaments projects more expensive. The Ministry of Defense also listed projects in the business plan for the special fund that totaled more than 100 billion euros.
The Federal Court of Auditors had criticized this in an expert opinion, as well as the fact that individual procurement projects were not backed up with specific sums in the business plan. With the revised plan, the Ministry of Defense also wants to take this criticism into account.
More: Guest commentary by Jan Byok: 100 billion euros for a failed authority – that has to change in the Bundeswehr