Germany Military - 2024

Military and security forces

Federal Armed Forces (Bundeswehr): Army (Heer), Navy (Deutsche Marine, includes naval air arm), Air Force (Luftwaffe, includes air defense), Joint Support and Enabling Service (Streitkraeftebasis, SKB), Central Medical Service (Zentraler Sanitaetsdienst, ZSanDstBw), Cyber and Information Space Command (Kommando Cyber und Informationsraum, Kdo CIR) (2024)

note: responsibility for internal and border security is shared by the police forces of the 16 states, the Federal Criminal Police Office, and the Federal Police; the states’ police forces report to their respective interior ministries while the Federal Police forces report to the Federal Ministry of the Interior

Military expenditures

1.7% of GDP (2023 est.)
1.5% of GDP (2022)
1.5% of GDP (2021)
1.5% of GDP (2020)
1.4% of GDP (2019)

Military and security service personnel strengths

approximately 185,000 active-duty armed forces personnel (62,000 Army; 16,000 Navy; 27,000 Air Force; 20,000 Medical Service, 14,000 Cyber and Information Space Command; 45,000 other, including central staff, support, logistics, etc.) (2023)

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

the inventory of Federal Armed Forces is comprised of weapons systems produced domestically or jointly with other European countries and Western imports, particularly from the US; in recent years, the US has been the leading foreign supplier; Germany's defense industry is capable of manufacturing the full spectrum of air, land, and naval military weapons systems, and Germany is one of the world's leading arms exporters; it also participates in joint defense production projects with the US and European partners (2024)

Military service age and obligation

17-23 years of age for voluntary military service for men and women (must have completed compulsory full-time education and have German citizenship); conscription ended July 2011; service obligation 7-23 months or 12 years; in July 2020, the government launched a new voluntary conscript initiative focused on homeland security tasks; volunteers serve for 7 months plus 5 months as reservists over a 6 year period (2024)

note: women have been eligible for voluntary service in all military branches and positions since 2001 and accounted for about 12% of the active-duty German military in 2023

Military deployments

up to 500 Iraq (NATO); up to 1,400 Lithuania (NATO); 100 Niger; 280 Slovakia (NATO) (2023)

note: in response to Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, some NATO countries, including Germany, have sent additional troops and equipment to the battlegroups deployed in NATO territory in eastern Europe

Military - note

the Bundeswehr’s core mission is the defense of Germany and its NATO partners; it has a wide range of peacetime duties, including crisis management, cyber security, deterrence, homeland security, humanitarian and disaster relief, and international peacekeeping and stability operations; as a key member of NATO and the EU, the Bundeswehr typically operates in a coalition environment, and its capabilities are largely based on NATO and EU planning goals and needs; it has participated in a range of NATO and EU missions in Europe, Africa, and Asia, as well as global maritime operations; the Bundeswehr has close bilateral defense ties with a number of EU countries, including the Czechia, France, the Netherlands, and Romania, as well as the UK and the US; it also contributes forces to UN peacekeeping missions

the Bundeswehr was established in 1955; at the height of the Cold War in the 1980s, it had nearly 600,000 personnel, over 7,000 tanks, and 1,000 combat aircraft; in addition, over 400,000 soldiers from other NATO countries—including about 200,000 US military personnel—were stationed in West Germany; in the years following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, the Bundeswehr shrank by more than 60% in size (over 90% in tanks and about 80% in aircraft), while funding fell from nearly 3% of GDP and over 4% of government spending in the mid-1980s to 1.2% and 1.6% respectively; by the 2010s, the Bundeswehr’s ability to fulfill its regional security commitments had deteriorated; the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 and full-scale assault on Ukraine in 2022 led to renewed emphasis on Germany’s leadership role in European defense and NATO and efforts to boost funding for the Bundeswehr to improve readiness, modernize, and expand

the current Bundeswehr Army is comprised of two armored divisions and a rapid forces division; the armored divisions have multiple armored and mechanized infantry brigades, including a Dutch brigade and a bi-national Franco-German brigade; one of the divisions also has a mountain infantry brigade; the rapid forces division has airborne, special operations, and helicopter forces, as well as a Dutch air mobile infantry brigade

the Navy is organized into flotillas for high seas and coastal operations; the high seas flotilla has 12 frigates, while the coastal flotilla has five corvettes and six submarines, plus mine warfare vessels, special operations forces, and marines; the marines cooperate closely with their Dutch counterparts, the Corps Mariniers, and together form a bi-national amphibious group; the Navy also has an aviation command for missions such as maritime surveillance, anti-submarine, and anti-surface warfare

the Air Force has commands for air, transport/logistics, and space operations; it has about 200 combat aircraft, plus dozens of aircraft for other missions, such as transport, tankers, electronic warfare, and reconnaissance, as well as more than 80 helicopters of various types (2023)