Bundeswehr Inspector General Carsten Breuer believes the German Army must be rearmed by 2029, as that is when russia would be able to attack a NATO country.
Breuer made the remarks in an interview with Welt Am Sonntag.
Carsten Breuer continues to rely on the United States' loyalty to the alliance under new US President Donald Trump - and also maintains cooperation with the Americans in the field of armaments.
"My biggest challenge at the moment is to quickly ensure the operational readiness of the troops - and I have to do this with all the means available on the market," he said.
“Of course, we will first look in Germany and Europe to see if there is anything on the shelves. If not, then, given the time pressure, we will have to buy from the US if it is available there,” Breuer said, adding: “Our goal is 2029; we must be ready by then.”
Germany’s military chief sees a “clear threat from russia,” whose armed forces, with 1.5 million soldiers next year, will be twice as large as before the aggression against Ukraine.
“We see that around 1,500 battle tanks are either being produced anew or are being taken out of storage and repaired every year - far more than is needed for the war against Ukraine. And the storage facilities are being filled with ammunition,” Breuer said.
By 2029, he estimated, russia will be “capable of a large-scale attack with conventional weapons, even on NATO territory.”
Putin's goal, he said, is to "weaken and destroy NATO as an alliance and discredit our Western form of society."
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