To meet NATO's new goals, Germany may need to increase its troops to 60,000

German Defense Minister Pistolius said that according to the new NATO weapons and personnel targets, Germany needs to increase its troops to 60,000.

Reuters reported that Pistolius told reporters before attending the NATO Defense Ministers' meeting in Brussels, Belgium on Thursday (June 5) that Germany is strengthening its fulfillment of its responsibilities as the largest economy in Europe. According to NATO's defense goals, the total number of active-duty soldiers of all branches of the German Armed Forces needs to increase by about 50,000 to 60,000, and the future total strength will reach 250,000 to 260,000.

NATO is strengthening its military forces to deal with the growing threat from Russia. It is reported that the new defense plan document of NATO for its member states is thousands of pages long, detailing how the allied forces should respond to Russia's attacks on the alliance.

NATO has not yet disclosed specific details. Secretary General Rutte stated: "We must invest in our air defense systems, we must invest in our long-range missiles, we must invest in our mobile ground forces, command and control systems - all these goals must be achieved."

However, to meet the new standards of NATO, Germany may face huge challenges. Reuters reported last week that NATO's planned troop increase target for Germany alone includes seven army brigals, or approximately 40,000 troops. Sources said that the total number of brigades that NATO Allies are expected to have to provide in the future should be between 120 and 130.

The additional conscription plan may also trigger a new round of debate in Germany over whether the conscription system, which was suspended in 2011, should be resumed. Pistorius pointed out that it is also a question whether the voluntary military service system that the government plans to introduce can fill the vacancies in the military.

According to data from the German Ministry of Defense, the German military has yet to reach the target of 203,000 personnel set in 2018 and is currently short of approximately 20,000 regular troops.

Pistorius added that although troops need to be expanded, the army is unable to recruit more new recruits at present due to the lack of barracks and trainers.