The Cyber and Information Domain Service (CIDS; German: Cyber- und Informationsraum, lit. 'Cyber and Information space', pronounced [ˈsaɪbɐ ʔʊnt ʔɪnfɔʁmaˈtsi̯oːnsʁaʊm] ; CIR) is the youngest branch of the German Armed Forces, the Bundeswehr. The decision to form an organizational unit was presented by Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen on 26 April 2016, becoming operational on 1 April 2017. It is headquartered in Bonn.
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The Bundeswehr (German: [ˈbʊndəsˌveːɐ̯] , lit. Federal Defence) are the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The Bundeswehr is divided into a military part (armed forces or Streitkräfte) and a civil part. The military part consists of the four armed forces: German Army, German Navy, German Air Force and Cyber and Information Domain Service, which are supported by the Bundeswehr Support Area.
As of 30 April 2025, the Bundeswehr had a strength of 182,496 active-duty military personnel and 80,770 civilians, placing it among the 30 largest military forces in the world, and making it the second largest in the European Union behind France. In addition, the Bundeswehr has approximately 860,000 reserve personnel (2025). With the German military budget at $100 billion (€86.37 billion) for 2025, the Bundeswehr is the fourth-highest-funded military in the world, though military expenditures have until recently remained low at an average at 1.5% of national GDP, well below the non-binding NATO target of 2%. In 2024, Germany fulfilled NATO obligations of spending 2% of its GDP on its armed forces. Germany is aiming to expand the Bundeswehr to around 203,000 soldiers by 2031 to better cope with increasing responsibilities.
The Bundeswehr Support Area (German: Unterstützungsbereich der Bundeswehr) is a support formation of the German Bundeswehr activated on 1 October 2024. The Bundeswehr Support Area provides logistical, medical, CBRN defence, and military police support to Bundeswehr's four armed forces: Army, Navy, Air Force, and the Cyber and Information Domain Service. The area is also responsible for the strategic development of the capabilities of the Bundeswehr, for civil-military cooperation, the multinational integration into NATO and the European Union, military music, sports promotion, the conceptual development of the reserve as well as tasks related to the Bundeswehr's veterans. On 1 April 2025, the area took command of the units of the Joint Support Service and Joint Medical Service.
The Joint Medical Service (German: Zentraler Sanitätsdienst der Bundeswehr, short form: Zentraler Sanitätsdienst, pronounced [t͡sɛnˈtʁaːlɐ zaniˈtɛːt͡sˌdiːnst] ) is a part of the Bundeswehr, the armed forces of Germany and serves all three armed services (Army, Navy and Air Force, as well as the Cyber and Information Domain Service). Members of the central medical corps remain members of their respective military branches. Only a few specialized medical units such as the medical care for divers and aircraft crews are not incorporated in the Joint Medical Service. Prior to 2002 each military branch had its own medical service. The services were then largely merged, forming the Joint Medical Service. In May 2021 the minister of defense Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer together with Inspector General of the Bundeswehr Eberhard Zorn published a plan to dissolve the Joint Medical Service and to reintegrate its units into the army, navy, airforce and cyber command.
