Germany plans to buy Australian-made combat vehicles

BERLIN — Germany plans to buy more than 100 Australian-made combat vehicles as it moves ahead with plans to modernize its armed forces, the government said Thursday.

German and Australian officials signed an agreement to cooperate on the procurement of the new combat reconnaissance vehicles, based on the Boxer family of armored fighting vehicles and equipped with a 30mm gun. The aim is for deliveries to start in 2025, the German Defence Ministry said.

The value of the agreement was not readily available. However, the ministry said the money will come from a special €100 billion (U.S. $108 billion) fund for the modernization of the military that Germany approved after Russia invaded Ukraine last year.

The new vehicles will replace the German Army’s Wiesel 2 armored vehicles, the Defence Ministry said. Germany’s military is widely acknowledged to be suffering from years of neglect and in particular from aging, poorly functioning equipment.

The German government has faced criticism for making a slow start to spending the special fund, but has said that €30 billion was already committed to contracts.

In December, German lawmakers gave the go-ahead for a series of procurement projects including the purchase of Lockheed Martin-made F-35 fighter jets .

柏林——德国政府周四表示，德国计划购买 100 多辆澳大利亚制造的作战车辆，以推进其武装部队的现代化计划。

德国和澳大利亚官员签署了一项协议，就采购新型战斗侦察车展开合作。该型车辆基于“拳击手”系列装甲战车，并配备一门30毫米火炮。德国国防部表示，目标是在2025年开始交付。

该协议的具体金额尚不清楚。不过，国防部表示，这笔资金将来自德国在俄罗斯去年入侵乌克兰后批准设立的1000亿欧元（约合1080亿美元）的军队现代化专项基金。

德国国防部表示，新式车辆将取代德国陆军现役的“野牛2”型装甲车。众所周知，德国军队多年来疏于维护，尤其是装备老化、性能低下。

德国政府因迟迟未能动用专项资金而受到批评，但表示已有 300 亿欧元用于签订合同。

去年12月，德国议员批准了一系列采购项目，其中包括购买洛克希德·马丁公司制造的F-35战斗机。