The state of the Bundeswehr is more dismal than ever

economist.com ^ | Jan 26th 2023 | The Economist

[ransomnote]

“The Bundeswehr, the army that I am allowed to lead, is more or less depleted,” wrote General Alfons Mais, chief of the German army, on the day Russia attacked Ukraine, in an emotional post on social media. “We all saw it coming and were not able to get through with our arguments, and draw and implement conclusions from the annexation of Crimea. It doesn’t feel good! I am fed up!”

Almost a year after the general’s much-noted post, Germany’s armed forces are more depleted than ever, owing to the kit they are sending to Ukraine. Their stockpile of ammunition would last only a few days, rather than the 30 recommended by nATO. The radio equipment used by troops is 40 years old and analogue—and hence easy to intercept. Of its 350 Puma infantry fighting vehicles, just 150 are operational. The Bundeswehr does not even have enough Band-Aids, according to a report in December by Eberhard Zorn, the inspector-general of the armed forces.

ransomnote: PAY WALL AT LINK

[lepton]

The sad state of the German army isn’t particularly about The Ukraine aid, though it doesn’t help. The problem is that they have steadfastly refused to live up to their obligations and have parasited off the U.S. for their defense expenses for nearly a half century. They are one of many nations in the West whose actual army is just a token size, and not a real army. They haven’t even been keeping up with maintenance levels of supply, much less expending as they’ve obligated to.

[ansel12]

Here is some information on it.

It looks like they dropped below 2% in 1992.

https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/DEU/germany/military-spending-defense-budget

[McGruff]

I prefer Pabst Blue Ribbon anyways.

[GreyHoundSailor]

The rot & decay accelerated with them - in 2018 less than 20 pct of their attack helos and less than 30 pct of their Eurofighters could even fly. Pilots were quitting due to lack of flight hours.

[lepton]

Thanks

[minnesota_bound]

#5 We know you have been drinking to many ‘Bundeswehrs’.... : )

[Forward the Light Brigade]

Why worry? Why should Germany have an army or Navy? There will never be another war in Europe. The USA will protect them until the end of History. Russia is only a gas station today. Send every shell, gun and boot to Ukraine and dismiss the Army so they can get real jobs coding.

[Angelino97]

A similar story appeared today about Britain's military.

US general warns British Army 'is no longer regarded' as a top-level fighting force and is 'unable to protect the UK and our allies'

[tsomer]

That’s why Bam, and Bill and Hill, BiteMe, Mccain, W, Cheney lit on Ukraine like flies on a hot turd! They wanted to resume the Cold War.

Now they can’t make the missiles fast enough. Profits and dividends will rain like manna from heaven —or maybe fallout.

Just kidding. No nukes will fly. We’ll go back to the old ways— the old tit for tat thing. We hit them, they strike back, maybe not directly, or even on that specific battlefield, and by proxy through a client state or newly cemented alliance. And vice versa.

We’ve got troops posted all over the place, like the Horn of Africa. I expect interesting things will start to happen in such exotic, far away places—some we never even heard of.

It’ll be like the good ol’ days— geography, profits, and body bags.

[buwaya]

? You are aiming your sarcasm at whom, exactly?

[buwaya]

Three decades, not half a century, but fair enough.

Worse than their underspending, as far as it matters to NATO, is that their state-directed defense industry has been failing in their obligations to their customers, failing to deliver on orders and stalling deliveries.

On top of the underspending in the budget is that they fail even to spend authorized monies because of the astonishing state of their military bureaucracy. That probably better explains the “retail” state of unpreparedness, in maintenance parts and supplies.

[bigdaddy45]

Und zee vaccine.

[Jimmy Valentine]

A depleted war fighting capability with the Germans is not necessarily a bad thing.

[nathanbedford]

Berlin's dilemma.

I tell my friends who ask me about Germany because I live here that the danger in Germany is exactly like the danger in America, it comes from the left not from the right.

Bismarck's deal with the German people that he would grant them a welfare state provided they left foreign affairs to him has, since Hitler, evolved into, give us our welfare state and leave foreign affairs to us exercised through the European Union.

This is congruent with leftist ideology that wants the nation state to wither away upon the imposition of true socialism. Hence, Berlin is disinclined, quite apart from other considerations, to support a war in Ukraine over national boundaries. On the other hand, Berlin is quite inclined to support policies which strengthen the European Union and, by extension, NATO, providing NATO behaves itself.

Berlin's dilemma comes from the fact that the European Union and NATO have demonstrated remarkably unified commitment, (for them), for the defense of Ukraine. So the more Berlin leans toward its leftist predilection against supporting Ukrainians as a nation state, the more Berlin finds itself in opposition to its European neighbors who represent for leftists at least the intermediate stage of the Marxist ideal of a borderless, homogeneous world.

Ukrainians have been artfully playing off Berlin's dilemma by securing commitments and arms from other European nations raising the ante that creates precedent for the support of Ukraine. The dithering by the Germans respecting delivery of Leopard tanks is simply the playing out of the dilemma and the drama in public.

This time the dilemma was evidently solved by a tried-and-true German politician solution, kick America in the ass. While dissidents in Germany are busy arousing my neighbors against America as the source of all Germany's problems, as a hegemonic threat to the world and to the very existence of Germany, Berlin keeps its European Street credits alive by delivering the tanks but excuses itself to its own public by requiring American Abrams tanks to be delivered as well.

Berlin will continue to dither and continue to undermine America.

[Pete Dovgan]

“Berlin will continue to dither and continue to undermine America.“

Great post. Me thinks what Germans fear the most is disrespect and disregard. The will receive both to an increasing degree as they dither. Poland rising.

[FLT-bird]

Bingo. You couldn't get Yurps to admit it, but their socialism was funded by the US Taxpayer providing for their Defense. They promised to spend a paltry 2% of GDP on Defense and then Merkel's government came out with budgets that never even remotely approached even that. We'll see if they actually wake up and start doing the absolute bare minimum to field an actual military like an adult country. I have my doubts.

The other big delusion the Germans are going to have eventually work their way through is the Gaia Worship. They are paying crushingly high costs for energy because of it yet they STILL refuse to acknowledge sacrificing that much to Gaia is impossible if you want to have a modern economy.

[FLT-bird]

Yes it is if they are going to be real allies rather than just parasites.

Its not the 1930s. The Nazis are long gone. No, dictators and tyranny are not part of the national character any more than they are for any other country. In fact, the Germans have a huge streak of Pacifism that is distinctly unhelpful in a Democratic Western country that is a NATO partner.

[FLT-bird]

All true but the problem for Berlin is that America has proven to be correct on all fronts.

- Every American president from Ronald Reagan on told them that making themselves so dependent on Russia for their energy was not wise. They just laughed.

- Every American administration going back at least 30 years has urged them to at least go through the motions of providing for an actual national defense. Again, they just laughed.

In the beautiful words of Nigel Farage "Well you're not laughing now - are you?

Traditionally Leftist Germans (ie the establishment over there) has sought to undermine America mostly by making deals with Russia and by seeking to build a European superstate to rival America. Well.....what now? All their neighbors are fully on board with supplying Ukraine against Russia (I don't think this is a good idea but that's beside the point). So its either go along and really cement the split with Russia for a long long long time...in which case there is no useful foil to use against America.....OR, be alienated from all their neighbors which is worse than death to them. So....what now?

[FreedomPoster]

I am sure this meme is out of date. I am equally sure it is still accurate on the key point.

[kearnyirish2]

The EU is set up to prevent future European wars; without an empire to conquer/police, there is simply no reason for European countries to maintain a large professional military. Their populations don’t allow them to waste the blood of their young on nation-building in the Third World, so why bother? Germany is now just another state in a large country called the European Union.