Germany plans to order 16 more Airbus A400M transporters, Pistorius says
The order, still subject to Bundestag approval, would add to a fleet the Bundeswehr only just finished receiving in full.
Published
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said Germany is planning to buy 16 A400M transport aircraft from Airbus, with an order volume he described as in the billions of euros. The plan still needs approval from the Bundestag before it can be finalised, according to buten un binnen.
The Bundeswehr received the last of the 53 A400Ms it had already ordered by April 2026, according to a Wikipedia entry tracking German Air Force equipment. The new order is driven in part by a shortage of aircraft fitted with DIRCM self-protection systems needed for tactical missions, according to Europäische Sicherheit & Technik: only 24 of the existing 55 A400Ms have been retrofitted with the system under a contract signed in June 2025. Germany is also said to be seeking a buyer for its older A400Ms as part of a fleet exchange tied to the new order, the outlet reported.
The order would add firm, multibillion-euro defence revenue for Airbus at a time when its commercial division is under strain. A flaw affecting about 500 A321neo aircraft, roughly half already delivered and half still in production, has slowed September deliveries, and a separate tail issue on the A330neo remains unresolved.
The planned purchase extends a run of German defence spending flowing to Airbus, following the country's Tomahawk missile purchase and its order of a fourth intelligence-gathering ship. It suggests that political turbulence around Chancellor Merz and the CDU's electoral setbacks has not slowed procurement commitments. For Airbus, the order diversifies revenue away from the commercial delivery problems currently weighing on the stock. For Germany, it is another line in a defence build-up already under way, in keeping with existing fiscal and bond-yield trends rather than a new signal.