U.S. general urges more German spending to ease military transit

U.S Army Europe Commanding General Ben Hodges speaks during the inauguration ceremony of bilateral military training between U.S. and Polish troops in Zagan, Poland, January 30, 2017. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel - RTSY21U

BERLIN (Reuters) - Citing lessons learned from recent big military exercises, the U.S. Army's top general in Europe urged Germany to spend more on transportation and missile defence to help it meet its NATO target of 2 percent of economic output.

U.S. Army Lieutenant General Ben Hodges told Reuters the large-scale Saber Guardian war game conducted this summer with 25,000 troops and forces from 24 countries showed progress in the logistics needed to respond to a major military threat.