German arms purchases to favour speed over supplier origin, top official says

By Sabine Siebold

BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany's military procurement agency will prioritize rapid delivery in future defence contracts over the origin of the manufacturer, its top official told Reuters, as the country prepares to nearly double its military spending.

"Which country we buy from depends on who can quickly offer the required material," Annette Lehnigk-Emden, director-general of the Bundeswehr's procurement agency BAAINBw, said in a written interview.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz recently backed U.S. President Donald Trump's demand to hike NATO's defence spending target to 5% of national GDP, a major shift made possible by a historic loosening of Berlin's constitutional debt brake.

Germany spent 2.1% of its GDP, or approximately 90 billion euros ($104 billion), on defence last year, meeting NATO's current 2% spending target.

At a summit in The Hague next week, NATO leaders are expected to commit to raising the spending goal to 5%. They will take a two-pronged approach that would see members spend 3.5% of their GDP on defence and dedicate 1.5% to broader security-related issues such as infrastructure and cyber security.

German arms makers are hoping to benefit from the spending surge but companies in the United States, which have expansive military production capacity, also expect to boost profits.

Lehnigk-Emden did not comment directly on whether the German defence industry has sufficient capacity to capitalize on the spending increase but urged companies to boost production.

"The industry must expand its capacity. We will procure, that's for sure - and off the shelf... as time is of the essence," she said. It was urgent to equip forces by 2029, she added, the date when NATO warns Russia might be capable of a large-scale attack against allied territory.

Lehnigk-Emden said air defence and ammunition were among the top priorities on the military's procurement list, aligning with NATO's targets for weapons and equipment.

She dismissed concerns from some experts that under pressure to meet the 5% target, some spending may be unnecessary or misallocated, stating that it would be in line with the military's demands and approved by parliament.

"This is why I don't see such a risk," she added.

Lehnigk-Emden did not specify when Germany's defence spending might reach 3.5% of GDP.

She highlighted plans for new legislation, due by the end of the year, to speed up procurement. The BAAINBw has faced past accusations of being too sluggish.

The law will seek to minimize delays caused by legal challenges and will also grant the power to restrict some tenders to European bidders and subcontractors. Berlin is already making more use of a national security clause under EU law to prioritize domestic procurement, she said.

($1 = 0.8636 euros)

(Reporting by Sabine Siebold, Editing by Alexandra Hudson)