The EU’s largest economy has accelerated investment in defense tech startups as part of its military expansion
Germany is heavily investing in futuristic warfare technologies, including surveillance cockroaches and AI-powered robots, as part of a sweeping rearmament plan, Reuters reported Wednesday.
The outlet spoke to two dozen executives, investors, and policymakers to examine how the EU’s largest economy aims to play a central role in the rearming of the continent.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz recently announced plans to increase Germany’s overall military budget to €153 billion ($180 billion) by 2029, up from €86 billion this year. He pledged to allocate 3.5% of GDP to defense under a new NATO framework to counter what he called a direct threat from Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed Western concerns about Russian aggression as “nonsense,” accusing NATO of using fear to justify increasing military budgets.
According to Reuters sources, Merz’s government views AI and start-up technology as critical to its plans. This week, the cabinet approved a draft procurement law designed to streamline the process for startups developing cutting-edge technologies, from tank-like robots and unmanned mini-submarines to surveillance cockroaches. The law aims to help such companies quickly contribute to the modernization of Germany’s armed forces.
Startups like Munich-based Helsing, which specializes in AI and drone technology, alongside established defense contractors such as Rheinmetall and Hensoldt, are now leading Germany’s military innovation, the article said.
Critics of the German government’s policies warn that continued military spending could strain the national budget and further damage the country’s industry, already burdened by rising energy costs, the fallout from sanctions on Russia, and trade tensions with the US.
Germany has been the second-largest arms supplier to Kiev since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, surpassed only by the US. Russia has consistently denounced Western weapons deliveries, saying they prolong the conflict and risk escalating tensions. Moscow has warned that Berlin’s policies could lead to a new armed conflict with Russia, decades after the end of World War II.
