Germany's Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen plans to put eight decommissioned military storage facilities for equipment and ammunition back into service.

Ursula von der Leyen, Germany's Defense minister (Picture source: photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jette Carr )

According to the German Defense ministry, "changed security policy framework conditions" would increase storage requirements for spare parts and operating materials for the "entire spectrum of weapons and equipment used by the German Federal Armed Forces."

This plan will take place between 2020 and 2031. It includes five storage facilities for military equipment and three ammunition storages distributed in five states across the country.
The reactivation of the facilities will require around 600 additional soldiers and investments of around 200 million euros (228 million U.S. dollars). "More staff and materials also mean more need for further infrastructure," the Defense ministry stated.

In the coming years, the German Armed Forces are expected to increase the number of soldiers from today's 180,000 to 203,000 by 2025, as reported in November in the German newspaper Bild. The additional forces will mainly be employed as part of the NATO Response Force (NRF), ensuring cyber security and other European projects.