"I'm going to insist upon it that the special fund is spent as soon as possible, so that it is eaten up by the inflation as little as possible. I also intend to achieve an increase in the defense ministry's share in the federal budget," he said in an interview with German media.
The minister added it is essential to redefine the role of the country's armed forces amid the continuing conflict in Ukraine.
"We come from the times when we lived on dividends of the peaceful time and when the [NATO] Alliance and the national defense were less important. Now everything has changed again, and we have to adapt," Pistorius said.
In June, the German parliament and the federal council approved by a majority of votes German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's initiative to create a special fund of 100 billion euros to improve the country's defense capabilities, making the German armed forces the largest regular army in Europe.
On January 27, Pistorius told German media that the special defense fund would not be enough for Germany to modernize its troops and cover maintenance costs for military equipment. Later, outlets reported that Pistorius had called for an increase of 10 billion euros per year in the annual budget of Germany's armed forces.