Germany announced a new military strategy with the goal of building “Europe’s strongest conventional army” by 2039.

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius revealed the proposal speaking to the German parliament on Wednesday, and detailed a public outlining for the “future direction” of the Bundeswehr, the German Armed Forces. One of the goals of the plan, the German Defense Ministry said in a statement, is for Germany to take “more responsibility” within NATO.

“We are developing the Bundeswehr into the strongest conventional army in Europe. In the short term, we are increasing our defense and resilience, in the medium term we are aiming for a significant increase in overarching capabilities and in the long term we will establish technological superiority,” Pistorious said, per Politico.

According to Politico, the new German military plan states that while the United States is indispensable for NATO, it notes that “Washington is increasingly oriented toward the Indo-Pacific.”

The Defense Ministry said that the new German military strategy calls for a “fundamental rethink” on the “overall concept of military defense” consisting of the military strategy and capability profile of the German Armed Forces, a personnel growth plan for the Bundeswehr, and a new strategy for the nation’s military reserve in addition to a new agenda that amins to “reduce bureaucracy and modernize the system.”

“The starting point for this is a fundamentally changed international environment. The security situation has deteriorated significantly—especially since Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine,” The Ministry’s statement read in part.

Christian Caruso