By Markus Wacket
BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany will spend almost 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) on a further 20 military helicopters from Airbus, due to be delivered over two years from 2027, a government document showed.
The funding commitment, first reported by Bloomberg, is contained in a finance ministry paper to be presented to parliament, seen by Reuters on Sunday.
The defence ministry declined to comment on the order, saying it could not discuss procurement plans before they had been debated in parliament.
It completes a 2023 framework agreement that allowed the armed forces to purchase up to 82 Airbus H145M helicopters, 62 of which have already been ordered.
HENSOLDT AMONG OTHER COMPANIES TO BENEFIT
The total 931 million euro cost of the 20 additional aircraft – 15 for fighting roles and five for training special forces – will come from a special fund created at the start of this year to fund an urgent modernisation of Germany’s armed forces.
Governments across Europe are ramping up defence spending in the face of the increased Russian threat since its February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The German order will yield benefits for numerous other companies involved in kitting out the helicopters, such as defence electronics company Hensoldt which will provide electronic warfare and night-vision equipment.
The German government estimates the total cost of maintaining and operating the full fleet of 82 helicopters will run to almost 3 billion euros up to 2048.
($1 = 0.8575 euros)
(Writing by Thomas Escritt; Editing by David Holmes)
