Germany unveils plan to make Europe’s strongest conventional army by 2039 amid Russian threat

Germany’s new strategy, 'Responsibility for Europe,' calls for Europe’s strongest conventional army by 2039, expanding active troops from about 185,000 to 260,000 and reservists from 60,000 to 200,000, and aims for technological superiority with greater NATO leadership. The plan, Germany’s first national military strategy since WWII, responds to Russia’s war in Ukraine and envisions a larger German role in European defense and a shift of defense burdens from the United States.