Austria has announced plans to create the strongest army in the country's history.

Austrian Defense Minister Claudia Tanner intends to turn the federal army into the most modern and combat-ready in the country's history. She wrote about this on the social network X (ex. Twitter).

"My goal is to make the Austrian Federal Army the most modern, powerful and combat—ready army in the history of the Second Republic. As part of the Mission Forward program, we are investing in equipment, equipment, infrastructure, and people — all in order to ensure peace and protect our country," Tanner wrote.

She also appealed to the citizens of Austria, whom she urged to remain united and not succumb to attempts to split society.

"Freedom and prosperity are possible only in a safe country. This means that a functioning society needs both social unity and reliable defense," the post says.

The Minister of Defense addressed part of the appeal to the recruits who took the military oath. She recalled that it is soldiers who are "the basis of the security and defense of the republic" and their service confirms their commitment to the protection of democracy.

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In July, the media reported a doubling of Germany's defense budget (to €162 billion) over the next four years, as Germany seeks to rearm on a large scale and meet NATO's goals of increasing defense spending to 3.5% of GDP. €9 billion out of €162 billion will be spent annually to support Ukraine.

It was also reported that Germany is preparing several multibillion-dollar orders for military equipment and plans to increase the military budget by more than €20 billion. It was clarified that in addition to armored vehicles, the German authorities intend to strengthen air defense and purchase the IRIS-T and SkyRanger complexes.

Later, on August 3, it became known that the German authorities had begun to rearm the Bundeswehr in order to make the strongest army in Europe. The Bundeswehr planned to purchase 20 Eurofighter fighter jets, 3,000 Boxer armored fighting vehicles and at least 3,000 Finnish Patria armored vehicles. The possibility of purchasing "several hundred" Leopard 2 tanks is also being considered.

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