Overview
- The 1,200-page plan details mapped ports, rivers, railways, and roads, as well as supply and protection measures for redeploying up to 800,000 German, U.S., and allied soldiers toward NATO’s eastern flank.
- Drafted after Russia’s 2022 invasion by roughly a dozen senior officers meeting at Berlin’s Julius Leber barracks, the concept makes Germany the central transit hub for large-scale reinforcement.
- Operational trials have begun, including a Rheinmetall field camp for 500 troops in eastern Germany that revealed real-world constraints such as dispersed sites and the need for added traffic controls.
- Planners call for extensive civilian-sector activation, while citing major bottlenecks like about 20% of highways and over a quarter of road bridges needing repair and roughly €15 billion in port work.
- Germany has set up a Territorial Command, announced a return to conscription and large defense spending plans, as officials warn Russia could be ready to challenge NATO by 2029 or potentially earlier.