Germany already wants to increase its army size. "War readiness by 2029."

Mais's confidential note from September 2, addressed to Chief of Defence Staff Carsten Breuer, was obtained by Reuters.

Mais said achieving these goals is impossible with currently approved troop levels, which also include 37,000 reserve troops.

Germany increases commitment to allies

Germany has already begun to increase its commitments to its allies in Eastern Europe, including by establishing a German brigade in Lithuania, numbering some 5,000 soldiers, and deploying naval patrols in the Baltic Sea to counter undersea sabotage.

Mais called for an increase in active-duty troops by about 45,000 by 2029, the date by which the alliance expects Russia to be capable of launching a large-scale attack on Western allies.

As Reuters points out, Moscow has consistently denied any intention to wage war against NATO or its members.

The Bundeswehr's efforts to meet NATO goals

Furthermore, to achieve NATO goals agreed at the June summit and build reserves in the event of a war of attrition , such as the one waged by Russia in Ukraine, Mais forecast the need for another 45,000 active-duty troops by 2035. He also called for around 10,000 additional troops to strengthen territorial defense.

A Defense Ministry spokesman in Berlin declined to comment on the document, citing its confidential nature. He said NATO had adjusted its capability goals in response to significantly increased threats following a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

- According to preliminary estimates, a total of around 460,000 soldiers (from Germany) will be needed, divided into around 260,000 active soldiers and around 200,000 reservists - the spokesman said.

In June, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius announced that Germany would need up to 60,000 additional active-duty troops across all branches of the armed forces to achieve new NATO targets , which would increase the future size of the German armed forces, the Bundeswehr, to around 260,000 troops.

However, the target of 203,000 soldiers, set in 2018 , has still not been achieved, and according to ministry data, there is still a shortfall of around 20,000 professional soldiers.

In June, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced that the Budeswehr would become the strongest conventional army in Europe .

In August, the German government passed a bill introducing voluntary, non-career military service in the country , which is expected to generate up to 100,000 trained reservists. It emphasized that if recruitment targets are not met, the cabinet may consider introducing mandatory conscription.

Germany announced yesterday that it will increase and intensify its fighter jet monitoring of Polish airspace . The number of Eurofighter jets participating in these missions will double to four. This follows the Russian drone attack on Poland in the early morning hours of Wednesday, September 9th.