Germany Budget Panel Clears 16 Tactical A400Ms and More Frigates
Germany’s Bundestag budget committee overnight cleared funding in the 2027 defense plan for 16 more Airbus A400M transports in a tactical fit, and for additional MEKO A-200 frigates.
Choose Clash Report as a preferred source and see our reporting first in Top Stories.
The Bundestag’s budget committee closed a late-night reconciliation sitting with a recommendation that would let the German air force field 16 additional Airbus A400M transports built for tactical missions.
The text covers the 2027 defense budget and the economic plan for the Bundeswehr special fund, with a combined volume of more than €139 billion, the Defense Ministry said on Friday. The core defense chapter, Einzelplan 14, is set to rise to about €109.7 billion next year.
Final readings in the Bundestag are due in the coming weeks.
Sixteen Aircraft in Tactical Fit
Last-minute revisions will allow the Luftwaffe to procure 16 further A400Ms “in tactical configuration,” the ministry said. It described those aircraft as suited to operations “across the entire threat spectrum.”
The air force already operates 53 A400Ms, all stationed at Wunstorf. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in late September that 16 of those jets are logistics aircraft without tactical features such as defenses against missile attack.
He said Berlin was in “very good” talks with Airbus about replacing them with fully capable tactical frames. The retired transports would be offered to partner countries. Neither Pistorius nor Friday’s ministry statement gave a unit cost or a delivery timetable.
Funding Locked for More Frigates
The same revisions, the ministry said, “secure the financing of important naval projects,” including additional MEKO A-200 frigates and a fourth fleet service vessel.
That wording falls short of a fresh contract award. The committee already approved four MEKO A-200 DEU frigates, designated F128, in July and four more on Oct. 8, taking the planned class to eight ships.
Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems called the work its largest surface-ship contract. The first frigate is due at the end of 2029. Earlier Defense Ministry figures, reported by Janes, put the first four at €6.3 billion and the October option at a further €5.3 billion.
The shift followed Berlin’s decision to scrap the troubled F126 program and buy smaller MEKO ships for anti-submarine warfare. Rheinmetall later cut its sales outlook after losing that work.
Space, Innovation and Ukraine Aid
The committee also raised spending on the space domain, including SATCOM stage 3 for protected satellite communications and a space sensor-and-effects network. A new title will fund innovation projects and rapid purchases of market-ready technology.
The ministry said the late changes cancel one another out inside Einzelplan 14 and do not alter the overall volume of the government’s draft, implying offsets that Berlin did not identify.
More than €11.6 billion is again earmarked in Einzelplan 60 to assist states under unlawful attack, funding the ministry said will let Germany continue and expand military support for Ukraine. The package adds to a broader German rearmament drive.
Kamer Kurunç
Kamer Kurunç is the Team Leader of Clash Report and has led the outlet for four years. He oversees its breaking world news coverage, from the Middle East and the Russia-Ukraine war to defense and global politics. His focus is fast, verified, source-based reporting. Follow him on X at @kamerknc.
Choose Clash Report as a preferred source and see our reporting first in Top Stories.
