The institute, which is an independent, non-profit economic research center and think tank, analyzed Germany’s armament efforts over the past 20 years.
To reach the Bundeswehr’s (the German armed forces) stockpile of tanks, jets and ships from 20 years ago, at the current pace of supply, Germany will need almost 100 years, experts said in the report.
According to experts, the gap between the military capabilities of Germany and Russia continues to grow.
“In light of the current threat from Russia and after decades of disarming the Bundeswehr, the current government's spending on the German army is completely inadequate,” the report read.
Twenty years ago, the Bundeswehr had 432 fighters, and in 2021 - before the start of the war in Ukraine - only 226. The number of tanks has also fallen drastically - from 2,398 in 2004 to 339 in 2021.
Experts believe this is due both to the drastic disarmament of the German army in recent decades and to the too slow and economical armament program under the current federal government.
“From the perspective of the German government, a lot has probably happened, €100 billion have been made available to support Ukraine -- but that is not enough,” the report's lead author Guntram Wolff told the German weekly Die Zeit.
“The expansion of production capacities in Germany can only succeed if there are long-term and reliable budgets for defense orders. The current German budget does not provide for this,” Wolff added.
