Germany to Double Military Aid to Ukraine in 2024
The German government has made amendments to the 2024 budget, providing an additional allocation of 4 billion euros for military assistance to Ukraine. This information was disclosed to the German publication Bild by sources within the Ministry of Defense of Germany.
According to the sources, the coalition parties reached an agreement on this matter earlier this week, and the Budget Committee of the Bundestag is set to officially approve the decision to allocate an extra 4 billion euros in military aid to Ukraine next week.
Initially, Finance Minister Christian Lindner had anticipated allocating only 4 billion euros in the federal budget for 2024 for military assistance to Kyiv. However, most of these funds were already earmarked for previously promised support projects, leaving only 120 million euros available for new assistance from the German Ministry of Defense in 2024.
In response to this, during ongoing budget negotiations, the Ministry of Defense raised concerns and demanded an additional allocation of 5.22 billion euros. This includes 880 million euros for air defense systems, 675 million for armored vehicles, 935 million for protective gear, and 2.34 billion for equipment maintenance (repairs, spare parts, logistics).
In the end, an agreement was reached to add 4 billion euros to the 2024 budget. Additionally, the Ministry of Defense is permitted to spend two billion euros on commitments related to long-term contracts for arms supply.
It is worth noting that at the end of October, Germany provided Ukraine with another package of military aid, including anti-aircraft equipment, ammunition, and 155mm shells. The most significant component of the new aid package is the third IRIS-T anti-aircraft missile system. Ukraine received the medium-range IRIS-T SLM system, capable of intercepting targets up to 40 km away and at an altitude of up to 20 km. German engineers are currently working on the long-range SLX model, which is expected to intercept missiles up to 100 km away, but this project is estimated to take approximately 5–7 years.
Ukrainian military personnel are highly satisfied with the performance of the IRIS-T systems. According to their reports, the system demonstrates high efficiency, successfully hitting 9 out of 10 targets, considered a remarkable achievement in real combat conditions.