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Exclusive-Germany's army needs to more than double in size, commander says
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on September 11, 2025
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By Sabine Siebold
BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany's army needs to add 100,000 active troops to its existing 62,000 to meet new NATO targets intended to boost preparedness for the growing threat of Russian aggression, its commander says in a confidential paper seen by Reuters on Thursday.
"It is imperative for the army to become sufficiently ready for war by 2029 and provide the capabilities Germany pledged (to NATO) by 2035," Army Chief Alfons Mais wrote in a letter dated September 2, addressed to the chief of the defence staff, Carsten Breuer.
He said achieving these objectives was impossible with currently approved personnel levels, which also include 37,000 non-active troops.
Germany has already begun increasing its commitments to allies in eastern Europe, not least with the establishment of a German brigade in Lithuania, set to number some 5,000 troops, and a naval patrol deployment in the Baltic to counter undersea sabotage.
Mais called for an increase of roughly 45,000 active troops by 2029 - the year the U.S.-led alliance has said it expects Russia to be capable of a large-scale attack on Western allies.
Moscow has consistently denied any intention to wage war against NATO or its members.
Additionally, to meet NATO targets agreed at a summit in June and build reserves for a war of attrition of the kind Russia is waging in Ukraine, Mais projected a requirement for another 45,000 active troops by 2035.
He also called for some 10,000 extra troops to bolster territorial defence.
A spokesperson for the Defence Ministry in Berlin declined to comment on the document, citing its confidential nature.
He said NATO had adjusted its capability targets in response to the significantly heightened threats following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022:
"According to a first rough estimate, a total of around 460,000 personnel (from Germany) will be necessary, divided into some 260,000 active troops and around 200,000 reservists."
In June, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius announced that Germany would need up to 60,000 additional active personnel across all military branches to meet the new NATO targets, bringing the future strength of Germany's armed forces, the Bundeswehr, to around 260,000.
However, they have yet to achieve a goal of 203,000 troops set in 2018, and remain understaffed by approximately 20,000 regular personnel, according to ministry figures.
(Reporting by Sabine Siebold; Editing by Kevin Liffey)