According to the list—also reported on by Die Welt—the planned spending across land, air, sea, space and cyber domains total €377 billion [$US436 billion]. This colossal rearmament programme includes hundreds of projects, from new tanks and artillery systems to drones, fighter jets, space satellites and cruise missiles.
At its core is the creation of an army capable of waging war against Russia. The Bundeswehr plans to acquire 400 Tomahawk cruise missiles with a range of over 2,000 kilometres. These missiles can reach deep into the Russian heartland—the distance from Berlin to Moscow is around 1,600 kilometres. Germany is thus preparing for offensive operations that would form part of a devastating Third World War.
This madness is being financed through a massive increase in military spending. The Merz government—a coalition of the Christian Democrats and Social Democrats (SPD), with the support of the Left Party and the Greens—has permanently exempted rearmament from the constitutionally enshrined debt brake, thereby freeing up war credits totalling one trillion euros. While billions flow into weapons, ammunition and satellite systems, social budgets are being frozen, Bürgergeld (basic welfare support) abolished, and pensions and health spending cut. The working class is to bear the cost—as cannon fodder at the front and through social devastation at home.