The new Defense Minister Boris Pistorius wants to speed up the delivery of equipment and weapons for the Bundeswehr.

The "conflict of goals" of simultaneous military aid for Ukraine and better equipment for the country's own armed forces can only be overcome together with the armaments industry, the SPD politician made clear on Thursday at the Altengrabow military training area in Saxony-Anhalt, where he made his inaugural visit to the troops was.

“The goal must be that we have faster, sustainable and lasting replacement paths and times.

It has to be reliable," he said.

There must be mutual planning security.

This applies to politics for orders, while business is responsible for delivery times.

"It has to be brought together.

And if this means that more production resources have to be built up in Germany and in Europe, then that should happen," said Pistorius.

In particular, when it comes to ammunition, it is about the "question of quantity," he said.

He also wants to hold initial talks with the armaments industry about this as early as next week.

Pistorius took office a week ago after her predecessor Christine Lambrecht had asked Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) to be dismissed.

Her short tenure was accompanied by constant criticism and doubts as to whether she was up to the task of turning the run-down armed forces back into a broadly combat-capable force.

At the military training area, Pistorius was shown how men and women of Logistics Battalion 171 practiced with handguns and armored infantrymen in live firing with the Puma infantry fighting vehicle.

As part of the exercise, Pistorius was shown a combat situation where advancing Puma tanks encountered a barrier in open terrain, bypassed it, and continued the fight.

"I'm glad to be in the squad"

The minister also drove himself in the infantry fighting vehicle, which is ultra-modern and is intended to replace the older Marder infantry fighting vehicle, but recently made headlines with failures during target practice.

In the meantime, a more detailed analysis of the damage has shown that the problems could probably have been managed with better preparation and training.

“Anyone who still knows the marten will see the differences immediately.

I'll add a personal note: When I came onto the site and drove across the site, I had déjà vu and remembered my own military service 40 years ago," said Pistorius.

"And I'll say it in my own words: I'm happy to be with the troops." Pistorius, who will soon be wearing a camouflage parka during the visit and giving a lecture on tanks and politics, seems much closer to his nerve after a week of soldiers than his predecessors.

In the history of the Bundeswehr over the last 30 years, there have been significant savings programs under individual predecessors, "of which some say it broke the back of part of the Bundeswehr," says Pistorius.

"At the same time, we have the situation that we have a new security situation, with a new challenge for NATO and the Bundeswehr in terms of alliance and national defense.

The arms deliveries to Ukraine are now tearing holes where there are already deficits, as he said.

“We have to make a decision.

We can say badly to Ukraine.

We are stopping our help because there are temporary gaps with us.”

The day before, the federal government officially announced that, as a first step, it would give 14 Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine.

The aim is for this German-trained Ukrainian company to be in Ukraine by "the end of March, beginning of April," Pistorius said on Thursday.

"I have no indication that they will be late," Pistorius said, dismissing questions about whether the federal government had been too hesitant.

"We didn't hesitate, we negotiated," said the minister, who referred to necessary talks with allies.

And: "Everyone should be satisfied with the decision, because we do what is necessary."