Germany has committed billions to beefing up its military's equipment after years of neglect. Now it is trying to persuade more people to join up and serve.

More than three years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine kick-started efforts to revitalize the Bundeswehr, the challenge of strengthening the German military has grown along with fears of the threat from Moscow.

Alongside the higher military spending that Germany and NATO allies agreed on this year, the alliance is encouraging members to increase personnel numbers.

Berlin wants to add tens of thousands of service members.

“Germany is the country that must have the strongest conventional army in NATO on the European side,” said Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

He hasn't defined that goal in detail, but the tone underscores a shift in a country that emerged only gradually from its post-World War II military reticence after reunification in 1990.

Earlier this month, the military’s top brass watched as a ferry packed with armored vehicles was escorted out of the Baltic port of Rostock, drones were intercepted in the air and on the water and fighter jets circled above.

That was part of an exercise focused on moving troops and equipment to Lithuania — an ally on NATO's eastern flank where modern Germany is stationing a brigade abroad on a long-term basis for the first time.

Germany suspended conscription for men in 2011 and subsequently struggled to attract large numbers of short-term volunteers.

In recent years, the number of military personnel has hovered just above 180,000 — compared with 300,000, more than a third conscripts, in 2001.

Now the government wants to raise it to 260,000 over the next decade, and says it will also need some 200,000 reservists, more than double the current figure.

Better pay is one way to make the Bundeswehr more attractive, said Thomas Wiegold, a defense policy expert who runs the Augen geradeaus! military blog.

But a key issue is fixing the military's longstanding equipment problems, “because a force that doesn't have enough tanks, that doesn't have enough ships, that also doesn't have enough barracks, is not particularly attractive for applicants.”

F-35 fighter jets, Chinook transport helicopters, Leopard 2 tanks, frigates and other hardware are on order after a 100 billion-euro ($117-billion) special fund was set up in 2022 to modernize the Bundeswehr, but they will take time to arrive.

This year, Merz’s new coalition enabled higher spending by loosening strict rules on incurring debt, a big step for a historically debt-averse nation.

After conscription was suspended, the Bundeswehr gave up 48 barracks.

A report by the parliamentary commissioner for the military earlier this year said some remaining barracks and other facilities are still in a “disastrous” state after years of penny-pinching.

A program to build new military accommodation now aims to build 76 new buildings by 2031.

The Cabinet last month approved plans for a new military service system meant to tackle the personnel challenge.

It foresees more attractive pay and conditions for people who join up on a short-term basis, better training and more flexibility on how long people can serve.