Austria will spend €4 billion on the acquisition of long-range air defence missiles, Klaudia Tanner, the country’s defence minister, has announced.
Tanner told journalists on March 12 that Austria would not only invest in short and medium-range missiles but also buy systems with a range of 100 kilometres and more.
The acquisition is set to be conducted in 2028. Several systems are on the market, including the US Patriot and the Israeli Arrow 3 munitions but, according to Tanner, no decision on what to buy has been taken yet. She said that it made sense for Europe to be independent in defence matters and to be able to act autonomously.
She did not say how many jets would be bought. Austria’s air force has asked for 36 new fighter jets as the current fleet is too small reliably to police the country’s airspace.
“Austria has to become capable of defending itself,” she said, adding that was necessary with regard to international political turmoil and the fact that Europe could no longer depend on the US for protection.
Tanner announced that, as a part of this defence capability strategy, Austria would improve its air defence capabilities, while currently the focus is merely on airspace surveillance.
As part of that, she had announced in December 2024 that the country would acquire 12 M-346FA jets from Italian defence group Leonardo. These would also serve as training vehicles for Austrian pilots who currently have to learn their trade abroad after Austria decommissioned its Saab 105 training jets in 2020.
The country’s fleet of 15 Eurofighters would remain operational until 2023, Tanner said.
Austria’s military has been underfunded for decades despite the country’s undertaking to protect its constitutionally-mandated neutrality. Its parliament voted in favour of “everlasting neutrality” in 1955, which was a precondition for the Soviet Union to consent to the country regaining its independence after the Second World War.
Since then Austria has remained “neutral” on paper despite joining the European Union in 1995 and repeated calls in the past to join NATO, including from the right-wing FPÖ.
As opposed to other neutral countries including Switzerland, though, Austria does not have the defence capabilities to protect its neutrality militarily and instead relies on the ring of NATO countries surrounding it.
Despite Austrian neutrality, Tanner did not rule out her country’s participation in a potential peace-keeping force in Ukraine although she said this mandate would be judged when the need arose.
“We hope for a just peace in Ukraine,” she added.
