Germany is reforming its military procurement agency to make it more fit for a new age of warfare, with plans for an international office in Brussels.

Berlin’s €500 billion defence budget means the agency is expected to handle a consistently high volume of orders in the long term. The reform of the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw) aims to make it more agile to respond to future challenges, promote innovation within the armed forces and strengthen cooperation with industry, the defence ministry said in a press release.

“To improve cooperation with the institutions of the European Union and NATO in Brussels, the Procurement Office will also be represented in Brussels in future,” Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on Wednesday. The new representation is also meant to coordinate multinational programmes more effectively.

The agency is not expected to grow in size “as there are indeed a large number of vacant posts,” Pistorius told journalists following a presentation of the reform to the parliamentary defence committee.

It will instead be restructured, geared towards the land, air, sea, cyber and information domains, as well as outer space, with flexible ad-hoc teams based on current projects.

Government-to-government weapons sales will be another area that the defence ministry wants to strengthen by concentrating these efforts in Berlin.

A concrete schedule is not yet set, but Pistorius wants implementation steps to be defined by the end of June.

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