The Bundeswehr (German: [ˈbʊndəsˌveːɐ̯] (listen), meaning literally: Federal Defence) is the unified armed forces of Germany and their civil administration and procurement authorities. The states of Germany are not allowed to maintain armed forces of their own, since the German Constitution states that matters of defense fall into the sole responsibility of the federal government.
The Bundeswehr is divided into a military part (armed forces or Streitkräfte) and a civil part with the armed forces administration (Wehrverwaltung). The military part of the federal defense force consists of the German Army, the German Navy, the German Air Force, the Joint Support Service, the Joint Medical Service, and the Cyber and Information Domain Service.
As of July 2021, the Bundeswehr has a strength of 184,507 active-duty military personnel and 80,374 civilians, placing it among the 30 largest military forces in the world and making it the second largest in the European Union behind France in personnel. In addition the Bundeswehr has approximately 30,050 reserve personnel (2020). With German military expenditures at $52.8 billion, the Bundeswehr is the seventh best-funded military in the world, even though military expenditures remain average at 1.4% of national GDP, well below the (non-binding) NATO target of 2%. Germany aims to expand the Bundeswehr to around 203,000 soldiers by 2025 to better cope with increasing responsibilities.
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