The traffic light had decided on a special fund of 100 billion euros for the Bundeswehr – by the end of the year two thirds of it will be planned. The third that is still missing will follow next year, according to the head of the procurement office.
According to estimates by the President of the Procurement Office, around two-thirds of the Bundeswehr’s EUR 100 billion special fund will be tied up in contracts by the end of the year. “So that means we have placed orders,” said the President of the Federal Office for Equipment, Information Technology and Use of the Bundeswehr (BAAINBw), Annette Lehnigk-Emden, in front of journalists. The remaining third should be contractually bound over the course of the next year.
Your authority is very aware of the special task that the implementation of the special fund entails. “A pleasing number of projects is sealed,” said the head of the agency. “The fact that no payments have been made is in the nature of things, that payments are tied to contractual milestones.” Payment is only made once these have been reached.
Material equipment of the Bundeswehr has suffered
The items ordered from the special fund are expected in 2024 and 2025, but some things like the F-35 stealth bombers will not be available until 2026. The aim of your authority is “the fastest possible delivery”.
Lehnigk-Emden stated that the material equipment in the Bundeswehr had suffered in the past decades, among other things due to the focus on foreign missions. Now the core task of national and alliance defense is back in focus. “But it is also true that such a reorientation, especially with regard to the material, cannot be caught up within a few weeks and months,” emphasized the lawyer.
Lehnigk-Emden: Restructuring of the authority is not necessary
A restructuring of their much-criticized authority is not necessary. “Because changing fundamental structures would take too much time.” Instead, procedures would be simplified.
The office will free itself from many internal legal requirements and process steps “that we have imposed on ourselves in the past in addition to the legal national framework”.
Lehnigk-Emden has been President of the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw) in Koblenz since April 2023. The mammoth authority with its more than 10,000 employees is responsible for equipping the Bundeswehr with efficient and safe defense technology.