Germany needs at least 200,000 reservists in the coming years to keep pace with its growing defence commitments, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said at the Bundeswehr's annual reserve conference in Berlin on 6 November.

The planned Reserve Strengthening Act would allow the armed forces to require former soldiers to take part in reserve training, ending the current system of "double voluntariness" under which both the reservist and their employer must agree to a call-up. The law is expected to take effect in the first quarter of 2027.

Pistorius said the reserve must become larger, better trained and more reliably available, both for homeland defence and for Germany's commitments to NATO. The Bundestag held its first reading of the bill on 15 October, after the federal cabinet approved the draft in July.

The 200,000 figure is a target for the size of the reserve by 2033, not the number of people already serving. At present only around 40,000 former soldiers take part in reserve exercises, and roughly one in three of them is over the age of 50.

The reserve overhaul sits alongside a wider expansion of the Bundeswehr. Germany aims to raise its active force to at least 260,000 soldiers, up from about 182,000, as part of a build-up driven by Russia's war in Ukraine and doubts over the reliability of United States security guarantees in Europe.

Under the draft law, anyone who has completed at least six months of voluntary military service could be required to take part in reserve duty up to the age of 45. The measure does not restore general conscription, which was suspended in 2011.

[Source: securitysignal.com](https://www.securitysignal.com/article/2026/11/nemecko-predstavuje-plany-na-posilnenie-zaloh-bundeswehru-3le8sc) | [Source: global-political-spotlight.com](https://www.global-political-spotlight.com/articles/government-briefs/bundeswehr-seeks-200-000-reservists-2026-11-06)