German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius aims to strengthen the armed forces' defence capabilities with a unified operational command, he said in Berlin on Thursday.
The Bundeswehr will also be reorganized along four branches of the armed forces with a joint support command, the minister announced at the presentation of the new structure.
In addition to the army, air force and navy, the four branches of the armed forces now also include the Cyber and Information Space (CIR) force, which specializes in electronic warfare and cyberoperations, reconnaissance and the protection of electronic infrastructure.
To date, the Bundeswehr has had an operational command in Schwielowsee near Potsdam for the planning and control of foreign missions such as in West Africa or the frigate Hessen in the Red Sea.
In addition, a territorial command for national defence was created in Berlin, where the operational plan (OPLAN) for the national defence of Germany was also developed. The two bodies have very different tasks, but also some possible overlaps.
In November last year, Pistorius proclaimed "war capability as a maxim for action" in new defence policy guidelines. He said that Inspector General Carsten Breuer and a state secretary should also take a look at the structures of the Bundeswehr itself and explicitly also at command organizations.
Pistorius wants to take action against duplicate structures that hinder and hold each other up.
Another major point of action is the Bundeswehr's personnel and the question of whether Germany could reintroduce compulsory military service after suspending it. Pistorius is having models for this examined and is orientating himself on the practice in Scandinavian countries.
The number of soldiers has recently fallen to 181,500.
