BERLIN, July 29 (Reuters) -

Germany is preparing a wave of multi-billion-euro

procurement orders, including 20 Eurofighter jets, up to 3,000

Boxer armoured vehicles, and as many as 3,500 Patria infantry

fighting vehicles, two sources familiar with the plans told

Reuters.

The purchases are part of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's push

to build Europe's most powerful conventional army, aiming to

reduce reliance on an increasingly unpredictable ally, the

United States, and take greater responsibility for European

security.

Earlier this year, Merz secured the parliamentary backing

needed to exempt defence spending from Germany's

constitutionally enshrined debt limits, enabling his government

to finance the military overhaul.

Germany's regular defence budget is projected to rise to

around 83 billion euro ($95.8 billion) in 2026, up by 20 billion

from 2025.

The Eurofighter order alone is expected to cost between 4

billion and 5 billion euro, the sources said, while the Boxer

vehicles - built by KNDS and Rheinmetall - are

estimated at 10 billion euro. The Patria vehicles are seen

costing roughly 7 billion euro.

Deliveries of the Boxer and Patria platforms are expected

over the next 10 years, according to the sources.

The defence ministry is also advancing plans to purchase

more IRIS-T air defence systems and several hundred SkyRanger

drone defence platforms, the sources said, noting that financial

details for those acquisitions have yet to be finalised.

Bloomberg also reported on the procurement plans, though

citing some differing figures.

The defence ministry did not immediately reply to a request

for comment.

Merz has pledged to meet NATO's new benchmark of spending

3.5% of GDP on defence by 2029 - well ahead of most alliance

members.

But Germany also has more catching up to do. Hours after

Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the chief of the German army

publicly vented his frustration over the long-running neglect of

military readiness in his country, saying the Bundeswehr was

"standing there more or less empty-handed."

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