Six Bundeswehr Projects Worth Nearly EUR 1.5 Billion Cleared — Puma Tracer Rounds, HERON TP Weapons; SPIKE-ER2 Pulled
Berlin, 4 November 2026
Key points
- The defence ministry said the Bundestag budget committee approved six more Bundeswehr procurement projects on 4 November, all financed from the defence budget; its release gives no values or suppliers
- The six: armament for the German HERON TP drones, portable troposcatter radios, radar components for Tranche 4 Eurofighters, image-intensifier clip-on sights, highly mobile Role 2 medical facilities with first deliveries from 2027, and 30 mm tracer training rounds for the Puma, Schakal and other platforms
- hartpunkt, citing people familiar with the matter, puts the six at almost EUR 1.5 billion: a call-off of 16 more Role 2B facilities from a Rheinmetall framework at almost EUR 750 million, PAYLOAD 1 weapons for HERON TP at more than EUR 250 million, DAMON MR night-vision attachments at almost EUR 200 million and troposcatter for the TaWAN battle network at about EUR 60 million
- A seventh submission, SPIKE-ER2 missiles for the H145M light combat helicopter, was taken off the agenda at short notice and is expected at a later sitting; no reason was given
Berlin's budget committee has approved six smaller Bundeswehr purchases, half of the money for field hospitals, and deferred the one that would have armed the army's new light combat helicopter.
The ministry's release lists the six by capability and says nothing about the seventh. ESUT's preview of the sitting had described the Eurofighter item as a further adjustment of the production contract and the HERON TP item as a top-up of PAYLOAD 1; the ministry names only radar components and armament. The SPIKE-ER2 submission was the purchase that follows a qualification contract: in July BAAINBw contracted EuroSpike, owned 40 per cent each by Diehl Defence and Rheinmetall Electronics with Rafael, to qualify the missile on the H145M, which would make it the first Spike ER2 in Bundeswehr service, as Signal No. 107 reported. The submission is now off the agenda, with no reason given.
The ministry's year-end plan now needs about twice this week's pace. ESUT counted 62 submissions of more than EUR 25 million decided this year before the sitting, with these seven as numbers 63 to 69 and 38 more planned for 2026 with three sittings left. With SPIKE-ER2 deferred, that is 39 projects in three sittings, about 13 a sitting against six on Wednesday. The year's largest order is already outside it: the Boxer order is reported to have slipped to February 2027, as Signal No. 180 noted. Earlier batches this year, from twelve submissions at EUR 1.7 billion to two replacement Patriot fire units, show the committee can take large slates. Whether December's sittings carry 39 items, or the remainder rolls into 2027 as Boxer has, is the test of the ministry's plan; Signal No. 182 recorded the six.
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