Bundeswehr
The Bundeswehr (German: [ˈbʊndəsˌveːɐ̯] ⓘ, literally Federal Defence) is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The Bundeswehr is divided into a military part (armed forces or Streitkräfte) and a civil part, the military part consisting of the German Army, the German Navy, the German Air Force, the Joint Support Service, the Joint Medical Service, and the Cyber and Information Domain Service.
| Federal Defence Forces of Germany | |
|---|---|
| Bundeswehr | |
| Motto | Wir. Dienen. Deutschland. ("We. Serve. Germany.") |
| Founded | 12 November 1955 |
| Current form | 3 October 1990 |
| Service branches | |
| Headquarters | Berlin, Bonn and Potsdam |
| Website | bundeswehr |
| Leadership | |
| Commander-in-Chief |
|
| Chancellor | Olaf Scholz |
| Federal Minister | Boris Pistorius |
| Inspector General | Carsten Breuer |
| Personnel | |
| Military age | 17 |
| Conscription | Yes, but indefinitely suspended since July 2011 |
| Active personnel | 181,672 (2023) (ranked 30th) |
| Reserve personnel | 34,600 (2023) |
| Deployed personnel | 2,000 |
| Expenditures | |
| Budget | €51.95 bn (2024) €71.75 bn (2024) Incl. 2nd tranche of special assets |
| Percent of GDP | 2.01% (2024) |
| Industry | |
| Domestic suppliers | Airbus Rheinmetall Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft Krauss-Maffei Wegmann Hensoldt MBDA Deutschland GmbH Heckler & Koch Diehl Defence Carl Walther GmbH |
| Foreign suppliers | United States Israel France Sweden United Kingdom Netherlands Switzerland Canada Italy Belgium Poland Croatia Austria Norway |
| Annual imports | US$85 million (2014-2022) |
| Annual exports | US$1.53 billion (2014-2022) |
| Related articles | |
| History | Military history of Germany Warfare directory of Germany Wars involving Germany Battles involving Germany |
| Ranks | Ranks of the German Bundeswehr |
As of 31 May 2023, the Bundeswehr had a strength of 181,672 active-duty military personnel and 81,612 civilians, placing it among the 30 largest military forces in the world, and making it the second largest in the European Union behind France. In addition, the Bundeswehr has approximately 34,600 reserve personnel (2023). With German military expenditures at $55.8 billion (2022), the Bundeswehr is the seventh highest-funded military in the world, though military expenditures remain relatively average at 1.4% of national GDP, well below the non-binding NATO target of 2%. Germany is aiming to expand the Bundeswehr to around 203,000 soldiers by 2025 to better cope with increasing responsibilities.
Following concerns from the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Germany announced a major shift in policy, pledging a €100 billion special fund for the Bundeswehr – to remedy years of underinvestment – along with raising the budget to above 2% GDP.