BERLIN --- The Bundeswehr puts the turbo on when procuring material: The inspectors of the branches of the armed forces are strengthened in the process, market-available solutions are preferred, procedures are deregulated and legal leeway for the Bundeswehr is to be exhausted. The time factor will determine the procurement process in the future.
With a decree from the Ministry of Defense and an instruction from the Inspector General, the procurement system of the Bundeswehr will be fundamentally optimized with immediate effect. Regulations and procedures are adjusted. New material should now reach the troops much faster to improve operational readiness.
Changing times require a willingness to change
"In order to bring the required equipment to the troops quickly and in the required quality and quantity, the improvement and acceleration of the procurement system is of outstanding importance," writes Defense Minister Boris Pistorius in his order of the day. Time is now the key factor. "Let's always keep this goal in mind in everything we do and let's use all the scope for action that we have to get there faster," said the minister. He appeals to the willingness to change: "This willingness is the basis on which the 'turning point' will succeed."
Minister Pistorius also informed Parliament today. It is about "quick, pragmatic and noticeable changes in procurement," said the minister in his statement in the Bundestag. Everything has to be subordinate to the time factor. This also requires a certain willingness to take risks in the procurement process: "More responsibility must be promoted, a culture of error must be lived."
The turning point requires swift and concrete action. With the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the attack on Ukraine last year, Russia called the European peace order into question. NATO is once again concentrating on its core mission – the defense of the alliance. The armed forces must therefore be put back in a position where they can fight in larger formations. At the same time, the Ukraine is being extensively supported in its defensive struggle against Russia with material - including from the stocks of the Bundeswehr.
With the increase in the defense budget and the establishment of the special fund for the Bundeswehr, the financial prerequisites for a rapid increase in operational readiness were created. Now it's about making equipment available quickly. To do this, unclear responsibilities that have arisen over the years must be overcome simply by thinking within the boundaries of responsibilities, excessive demands on the systems and over-regulated procedures and processes.
Market-available solutions have priority over development
From now on, the Bundeswehr will give preference to solutions that are available on the market over new developments when it comes to procurement. This eliminates the need for time-consuming analyzes and tests. Complicated adjustments to the systems should also be avoided as a matter of principle. The previous tendency to achieve perfect technical solutions has often had a negative impact on the duration and costs of procurement.
The time factor will be the top priority for all of us in the future. We start to accelerate where we have given ourselves regulations that restrict or slow us down more than the legal situation provides. Where we have unnecessarily bound ourselves, we will throw them off now. The primary goal is the fastest possible realization of the product that can be used by the troops.
Order of the day to accelerate procurement
In addition, internal procurement regulations within the Bundeswehr, which further tighten legal regulations, are suspended. In addition, possible special regulations for the Bundeswehr are to be consistently exploited. Previously, when describing a capability gap, for example, all procurement options had to be considered: buying a replacement system, developing a new system, taking on the task with a completely different system or a leasing solution. In addition, there was a comparison and evaluation of advantages and disadvantages and cost estimates. All this took a lot of time. This procedure is now shortened by directly searching for a solution that is available on the market.
Stronger role of the armed services in procurement
The armed forces will have more say in armaments projects in the future. The role of the inspectors is strengthened in the procedure. In this way, you can better incorporate the experience of the troops into the procurement process. The inspectors are now jointly responsible for the list of requirements and the specification of a procurement project.
The troops' interest in having the material available more quickly in the process was taken into account.
With the decree of the Ministry of Defense and the instruction of the Inspector General, the framework for a comprehensive reversal in procurement has now been set anew. The procurement optimization supplements the procurement acceleration law passed last year. It enables easier procurement processes for military equipment, simplified European armaments cooperation and greater consideration of German security interests in procurement processes.
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