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US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius met at the Pentagon on Tuesday to discuss deepening defense industrial cooperation between the two countries, signing an agreement aimed at aligning American and German weapons procurement systems, the Pentagon said.
The meeting focused on what Hegseth has called "NATO 3.0," a framework he describes as an effort to strengthen the alliance's military capabilities, boost defense production and shift greater responsibility for Europe's conventional defense onto European allies themselves.
Hegseth opened the meeting by framing it as a milestone in the US-German defense relationship. "We're here to take another strong step in advancing our defense industrial cooperation between the United States and Germany," he said in his welcoming remarks.
He credited Germany with progress toward NATO's spending targets, noting the country is "moving closer to fulfilling the 5%," a reference to the defense investment goal that alliance members agreed to at last year's NATO summit in The Hague.
Under that agreement, member states committed to spending 5% of GDP annually on defense and security-related needs by 2035, split between 3.5% for core military requirements and 1.5% for broader security investments such as infrastructure and industrial capacity, a sharp increase from NATO's previous 2% benchmark.
"Today, we see major progress that no one would have thought possible," Hegseth said, according to the Pentagon.
He added that Germany is "leading the way on the spending commitment it made at the Hague Summit last year," while cautioning that "defense spending is just the first step."
Pistorius said Germany backs a greater European role in NATO's conventional defense, pointing to the country's rising defense spending and military investments as evidence of that shift.
"Germany is strengthening its defense capabilities and acts as a driving force in Europe," he said.
He framed the effort as part of a broader European push to lessen reliance on Washington.
"We Europeans want to take some of the burden off the US and assume primary responsibility for conventional deterrence in Europe," Pistorius said.
The two defense chiefs signed an agreement intended to align the Pentagon's acquisition transformation strategy with Germany's Procurement Acceleration Act.
Hegseth said the alignment could open up new opportunities for joint weapons development, production, licensed manufacturing, and maintenance and sustainment between the two countries.
The signing follows Hegseth's announcement in June at a NATO meeting in Brussels of a six-month review of American troop deployments across Europe, during which he urged NATO allies to raise defense spending and reduce their reliance on US military support.
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