Germany will need up to 60,000 additional troops to meet NATO’s new requirements for weapons and personnel, said Defense Minister Boris Pistorius.
“We are fulfilling our responsibility as Europe’s largest economy,” the minister told reporters ahead of a NATO defense ministers’ meeting in Brussels.
These new requirements are tailored to NATO’s updated defense plans — thousands of pages of classified documents drafted for the first time since the Cold War — outlining how allied forces would respond to a potential Russian attack on NATO territory.
When translating these plans into actual military capabilities, NATO identified major gaps across various sectors — from large, combat-ready ground formations to long-range weapons, adequate ammunition reserves, and secure communications.
To meet these standards, Germany’s armed forces will need around 50,000 to 60,000 additional active troops across all military branches. This would raise the Bundeswehr’s total size to between 250,000 and 260,000 troops, according to Pistorius.
Previously, it was reported that NATO would ask Germany to provide seven additional military brigades, roughly 40,000 troops.
However, recruiting tens of thousands of new troops will be a significant challenge for Berlin and is expected to spark renewed debate over whether to reinstate military conscription, which was suspended in 2011.
The German military has still not reached its 2018 goal of 203,000 troops and currently faces a shortage of about 20,000 regular personnel, according to defense ministry figures.
Pistorius acknowledged the dilemma, saying the government will need to consider whether the voluntary military service program it plans to introduce will be enough to fill the ranks.
