From Zeitenwende to Reality: Bundestag Approves Unprecedented Arms Mega-Package
On 9 December 2025, the German Bundestag approved an unprecedented €52 billion package of 29 defence procurement contracts in a single session – the largest one-day arms order in the history of the Federal Republic. This historic decision marks the most visible acceleration yet of Germany’s Zeitenwende (“turning point”) in security policy, launched by Chancellor Olaf Scholz in February 2022 in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Far from a mere shopping list, the package represents a systemic overhaul of the Bundeswehr’s procurement system, designed to close structural capability gaps that have accumulated since the post-Cold War “peace dividend” era. The funds will be drawn from the regular defence budget, the €100 billion special fund created in 2022, and newly authorised debt brakes exceptions, allowing Germany to move decisively toward – and likely beyond – NATO’s 2 % GDP defence spending target as early as 2026.
Key components of the €52 billion package
1. €22 billion – Individual soldier systems and personal equipment
The single largest item is a comprehensive re-equipment programme for every soldier: new combat uniforms, modular plate carriers, advanced ballistic helmets with integrated communications, night-vision devices, modern assault rifles (continuation of the G95A1/HK416-based System Sturmgewehr Bundeswehr), medical kits, load-carrying systems and CBRN protection. Reports from the past decade repeatedly highlighted that entire battalions had to share helmets or train without body armour. This investment finally resolves those chronic shortages and brings German infantry equipment to the standard of leading NATO partners.
2. €4.2 billion – Additional Puma infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs)
The troubled Puma programme receives a major boost with funding for several hundred upgraded vehicles in the latest S1 design standard (improved electronics, active protection system “StrikeShield”, and MELLS anti-tank missile integration). The new contract also includes a mid-life upgrade for the existing fleet, dramatically increasing availability rates that had previously hovered below 50 %.
3. €3 billion – Arrow 3 exo-atmospheric missile defence system
Germany will acquire multiple fire units of the Israeli–U.S. Arrow 3 interceptor (including radars, command centres, and missiles) to form the upper tier of a future German/NATO European missile defence shield. Arrow 3 is currently the only operationally proven system capable of intercepting Iranian-type medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles in space. The first batteries are expected to reach initial operational capability by 2028–2029.
4. €1.6 billion – SARah and successor surveillance satellite constellation
Funding secures the completion of the SARah synthetic-aperture radar reconnaissance satellites and initiates the follow-on optical/high-resolution constellation. This will give Germany independent, all-weather, day-and-night intelligence capability and reduce dependence on U.S. and commercial imagery.
5. Other major items
- Heavy transport helicopters (CH-47F Chinook)
- F-35A Lightning II infrastructure and weapons package (beyond the 35 aircraft already contracted)
- Iris-T SLM/SLS air-defence systems for tactical and medium-range protection
- New 155 mm artillery ammunition stocks and PzH 2000 upgrades
- Naval projects including additional Type 212CD submarines and F126 frigates
- Cyber and electronic warfare capabilities
Strategic and political significance
This €52 billion tranche is only one part of a broader rearmament effort that will see German defence spending rise from €52 billion in 2021 to an expected €85–90 billion annually by 2028–2030. For the first time since 1945, Germany is openly positioning itself as Europe’s leading conventional military power and the indispensable “framework nation” within NATO’s eastern flank.
The decision enjoys unusually broad cross-party support: CDU/CSU, SPD, Greens, and FDP all voted in favour, with only Die Linke and AfD opposing. The package was deliberately structured as 29 separate contracts below the €25 billion threshold that would have required an individual parliamentary special committee, allowing a single omnibus vote and considerably accelerating execution.
Industry also benefits enormously. Rheinmetall, Hensoldt, Diehl, MBDA Deutschland, and Airbus expect tens of thousands of new jobs and years of secured order books, helping reverse the post-Cold War de-industrialisation in the defence sector.
International context
The move comes against the backdrop of:
- Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and explicit nuclear threats
- Growing concern over possible reductions in U.S. security guarantees after the 2024 U.S. election
- French–German disagreements over the future of European deterrence (FCAS, MGCS)
- The need to backfill equipment donated to Kyiv (Leopard 2, Iris-T, Gepard, etc.)
By acquiring Arrow 3 and building independent space reconnaissance, Germany is quietly reducing its historical dependence on U.S. systems while simultaneously strengthening the continental European pillar of NATO missile defence – a role traditionally filled by the United States.
Conclusion
9 December 2025 will be remembered as the day Germany definitively abandoned its post-war restraint on military matters. The €52 billion package is not an endpoint but the most spectacular milestone yet in the most profound transformation of German security policy since the founding of the Bundeswehr in 1955. For the first time in decades, Germany is not only willing but materially able to act as a serious military power in defence of European security.
