Figures presented – army budget: High expectations only partially fulfilled

According to the budget, the 1% limit would not be exceeded until 2026 – and that would amount to about 4.7 billion euros per year. That is later than initially hoped and far from the 1.5 percent already planned for next year. “Communicating entirely externally with a variable GDP share was not ideal from the start,” said a politician involved in the “Krone” negotiations. Expectations were too high.

Up to two billion more per year
Despite this, the military is now getting more money. Much more money. Over the next four years, up to two billion euros will be added to the defense budget every year. That’s a historically high amount that could allow the military to repeat the expensive 2007 Eurofighter deal every 12 months. But the money must be used elsewhere:

• Under the slogan “Mobility” battle tanks, armored personnel carriers and, by 2029, new transport aircraft to replace the Herkules (pictured above) are to be purchased. The first of the new AW169 transport helicopters already purchased will land in Langenlebarn in 2022.
• Must be bought completely new anti-aircraft gun with a height effectiveness of up to 40 km, which has never existed in Austria in this form before. There will also be new acquisitions in the field of drones and drone defense.
• the personal protective equipment of the soldiers needs to be improved and also invested in new equipment such as radios or night vision goggles.
• Die 15 Eurofighters of the Armed Forces, as reported, giving priority to identifying air targets at night. Nothing is known about an additional purchase of further machines, as was recently rumored in other media.
• “self-sufficiency” is another collective name under which the modernization and adaptation of the barracks is summarized. In the event of a crisis, keyword blackout, “security islands” should be created throughout Austria, which can be used independently as aid centers.

These investments, some of which last for years, are to be secured by a “State Defense Financing Act” designed for the next 10 years. This was the end of another ambitious idea to elevate military funding to constitutional status.

Chancellor: ‘We promised more, now there is more’
Nevertheless, Nehammer spoke on Thursday at the presentation of a “special good morning for the Austrian national defense”. He had fought for a higher defense budget for decades and he has now succeeded. “We promised more and now there is more. That’s a fact,” the chancellor said in response to criticism that even more money had been pledged. The military is an “important core element of security policy.” But a “comprehensive national defense” is needed.

The Green coalition partner was satisfied with the outcome of the budget negotiations. The war in Ukraine would also lead to new threat scenarios for Austria. “In addition to an increase in the military budget, foreign and peace policy and development cooperation measures will be adopted to improve stability and peace in the world,” said Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler, who announced that all military purchases would be reviewed by a committee. checked. to prevent corruption.

“step in the right direction”
“The national defense budget should finally be moving in the right direction,” SPÖ defense spokesman Robert Laimer said at the federal government’s press conference. He would have liked a higher budget and criticized the fact that “the numbers are again being juggled to hide what is going on”.