The measures would adapt the military to "protect our security wherever it is jeopardised," including for the first time a role in anti-terrorism inside Germany itself.

A series of bases and units would be phased out, including up to 90 Tornado fighter jets and 10 patrol boats, in order to save one billion euros.

But while the measures would mean fewer personnel, they do not envisage an end or significant shortening of military service, as some critics -- notably the Greens, junior partners in the ruling coalition -- have called for.

Struck's plans, contained in a 22-page document, were endorsed Wednesday by the cabinet.

They would cement a shift in the ethos of the army from the Cold War, when its primary role was to defend the homeland against a Soviet-led attack, to a 21st century "asymmetric threat."

Military thinking had been moving that way since the last plan was endorsed in 1992, but this latest version concedes that the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States have fundamentally changed the picture.

Under Struck's plans, the army could work alongside police in tackling any terrorist threat inside Germany.

Such a move would mean modifying the 1949 constitution, which specifically bans use of the military for internal security to avoid any threat of a repeat of the Nazi dictatorship.

Struck said he was talking with his interior and justice ministry opposite numbers to define the legal position.

The army is already used in civilian emergencies or disasters, such as last year's floods in eastern Germany.

The document says partnership with the United States remains "the basis of our security," but warns that Europe must develop its own security policy as a complement to NATO.

Germany currently spends 1.5 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defence, far below the amounts disbursed by the United States and its closest European ally Britain.

NATO, for instance, has urged all member countries to commit to investing a full 2.0 percent of GDP on their military budgets.

In order to ease the financial burden, defence procurement would be shared as far as possible with European and transatlantic allies rather than carried out on a purely national basis.

Money saved in the overhaul, such as the closure of bases, would be focused on boosting the German military's core capabilities, including the funding of deployments overseas.

Hampered by its militaristic past, Germany has only recently begun to feel confident enough to use troops overseas.

Kosovo in 1999 was the first time its armed forces had been deployed in an offensive role abroad since World War II, and Berlin is now the second biggest contributor to peacekeeping missions after Washington, notably in Afghanistan and the Balkans.

But such missions are expensive, and senior officers have made it clear the army is stretched to the limit.

Bernhard Gertz, head of the union representing military personnel, said the plans were a "step in the right direction."

He said defence "in the modern sense" was not identical with the East-West confrontation and the need now was for conflict regulation, stabilisation and peacekeeping.

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