BERLIN (Reuters) - The German Defence Ministry plans to spend billions of euros on armaments this year to tackle deficiencies in the armed forces' equipment, German newspaper Handelsblatt reported on Sunday.
Germany sharply curtailed military spending after the end of the Cold War, but began boosting spending again after Russia's annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine in 2014. A report this year found missing spare parts and quality defects mean less than half of Germany's submarines, warplanes and some other key weapons are ready for use.
