History of the Federal Office of Defense Technology and Procurement
1 September 1950
The specialized department "Besatzungslastenverteilung" (Distribution of the Burden of Occupation) of the Federal Ministry of Finance is established in Bad Homburg.
26 October 1950
Theodor Blank (Christian Democrats, CDU) is appointed "Chancellor's Commissioner for Questions with Regard to the Strengthening of Allied Troops". The "Blank Agency" became the nucleus of the later Ministry of Defense.
12 September 1952
Some of the tasks of the specialized department "Besatzungslastenverteilung" (Distribution of the Burden of Occupation) are transferred to the "Blank Agency". This area of work is relocated from Bad Homburg to Koblenz, close to Bonn, and is accommodated in the former hotel "Koblenzer Hof" on the river Rhine vacated by the French occupation forces. The official name is now "Division V" or "Branch Division Koblenz".
Whitsun 1953
Moving to Koblenz has been completed.
1955
The "Blank Agency" is renamed "Federal Ministry of Defense" (BMVg).
1956
The Branch Division Koblenz becomes "Division XI, Armament Office". Its tasks are the preparation for production, procurement und government quality assurance of defense materiel.
1 December 1957
BMVg Division XI is renamed "Office of Defense Technology and Procurement" by decree, dated 14 November 1957, of the incumbent Minister of Defense, Franz Josef Strauß.
8 October 1958
The "Office of Defense Technology and Procurement" becomes a higher authority directly subordinate to the BMVg and is called "Federal Office of Defense Technology and Procurement (BWB)". Unlike the rest of the Bundeswehr administration, the BWB is not organized regionally. According to the tasks to be fulfilled, it has eight Bundeswehr and equipment-oriented divisions which are supported by four policy divisions dealing with central tasks in the areas of administration, general technology, government quality assurance and contracting and pricing. The Bundeswehr Technical Centers, two naval arsenals and other agencies (amongst others procurement agencies) are all subordinate institutions.
1972
The armaments sector is reorganized. Within the BWB structure, the division "Project Area" is established in addition to the already existing technical divisions. The project officers in this division manage their projects in a way comparable to a "prime contractor" in the private sector.
3 October 1990
Within the framework of the German reunification, the Office of Procurement of the National People's Army (NVA) of the GDR becomes part of the BWB organization as "Branch Division Berlin". This branch division is in charge of reducing NVA equipment (scrappage, disposal and sale) as well as procuring Bundeswehr equipment from contractors in the new Länder.
28 May 1993
The Federal Ministry of Defense redefines the tasks of the BWB and its agencies. The range of tasks now covers mainly management tasks as well as technical tasks focusing on systems engineering/integration.
December 1996 / January 1997
The BWB is now in charge of all the tasks related to information technology (IT) within the Bundeswehr. The Bundeswehr data processing centers and parts of the Federal Office of Defense Administration become part of the BWB.
1 April 2002
The "Federal Office of the Bundeswehr for Information Management and Information Technology" (Bundeswehr IT Office) is established. The BWB transfers the corresponding tasks to the new higher federal authority.
15 April 2003
The BWB adopts a fundamentally new organizational structure (Executive Staff and enlarged Controlling as staff elements on the highest management level, four Project Divisions (system level management), two service divisions (economic/technical and central services) enabling the BWB to focus on its core task: project management.
Technical tasks are delegated to the agencies of the BWB organization, which are also reorganized on 29 July 2003. The reorganization is based on the objectives of the program "Modern State – Modern Administration" adopted on 1 December 1999 by the Federal Cabinet. It is part of the reform concept elaborated by the commission "Common Security and the Future of the Bundeswehr" headed by the former Federal President Dr. Richard von Weizäcker and is thus an essential step towards a more modern and effective Bundeswehr.
January 2004
Meanwhile, the BWB can look back at almost 50 years of successful work.
June 2005
The Project Directorate is established within the BWB. It is responsible for the coordination of projects across several sections to realize network centric operations. The objective to enable the Armed Forces to conduct network centric operations is of prime importance for the Bundeswehr transformation process. The aim is to achieve C2 and information superiority in a joint effort and thus increase the effectiveness of the Armed Forces considerably.
August 2006
The Service Division "Strategic Purchasing in the Bundeswehr" (SAbt E) is newly established.
The core task of SAbt E is to continuously enhance and modernize the identification of the demand for commercial goods and services and the satisfaction of this demand.
