The election team of German Chancellor frontrunner Friedrich Merz has promised “drone procurement” and “young generals”.

Should frontrunner Friedrich Merz win the German elections and become Chancellor on 23 February, his administration would commit EUR300 million for defence technology, DSEI has learnt.

“The next federal budget plans to contain EUR300 million for drones and procurement of new defence technology”, Stefan Thumann, part of Merz' election team on matters of economy, procurement, and foreign security told DSEI. He is also the CEO of German small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) Donaustahl. 

No specifics were offered on the type of defence technology, but Thumann added that “Merz will appoint a younger generation of generals more comfortable with new technology.”

As the end nears for Germany’s EUR100 billion ‘special fund’ for defence, or ‘Sondervermögen’, concern has mounted over the future of German defence procurement. The ‘special fund’ was introduced by current Chancellor Olaf Scholz shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Another major budget is expected, but nothing has been guaranteed yet. Despite this, “[German] defence spending will undoubtedly be adjusted by the next federal government in order to meet NATO’s rising requirements, which may be equivalent to at least 3% of our GDP”, according to Dr. Hans Christoph Atzpodienm, Managing Director of the Federation of German Security and Defence Industries (BDSV).

“We expect this to happen independent of any future government’s party-composition, Atzpodienm told DSEI.

When approached by DSEI, a Bundeswehr official said, “the decision on ways and quantity of the future Germany’s defence spending is a purely political one”.

Merz, who leads the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, is currently the favourite, according to the most recent survey on 11 February by German pollster Forsa.

On Sunday 23 February, Merz will go head-to-head with current German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, representing the Social Democratic Party (SDP), and Alternative For Germany’s (AfD) Alice Weidel.