Hi Gang,
our Mistress of Defense, Ursula von der Leyen, announced yesterday that one more Panzer Bataillon will be fielded soon.
Currently, the Bundeswehr has 225 Leopard 2 in 6 Bataillons. Under the influence of the Ukraine crisis, somebody thougt right the we need more MBT. Wise decision

It is astonishing that Germany has so few tanks. Yet it is true.

It`s a bloody shame! Thankfully several hundreds of initially more than two thousand have been conserved just in case.

If you think that is bad take a look at the tank force the UK can field.

Article here in English if interested. Indeed, a good decision I would think.

Jim

Poland have more Leopards 2

[quote]Poland have more Leopards 2 [/quote
That's where all the ex-bundewehr tanks went to.
Dan

and we in holland sell the the tanks what an idea
henk

How much Chally`s do you have?

With The British Army being reduced to 80,000 men total, I will be amazed if we can put 100 MBTs in the field. For a country that had an empire that spanned the globe we are becoming an insignificant joke; I will say that it is not the fault of those that serve, just those that are in control are at fault.

Germany actually has money for more tanks? As I understand it the Bundeswehr as a whole is in need of a bigger budget just to operate what they already have.

I have just done some reading and it works out at 168 tanks, but with vehicles being worked on due to breakdowns and general maintainance and servicing I still doubt we can field 100 vehicles.

Am I alone in thinking we seem to be reliving the 1920's & 30s here?
A total misreading of a developing political situation, neither Netherlands nor Belgium have MBT capability and armed forces generally being denuded to the point where many of NATO's central front would be very hard pressed to defend their own territorial integrity
Bears in the air , polite green men being welcomed by a local population....

Are there any Challys in storage "just in case"?

80,000 men??? Less that the Reichswehr in the 1920`s. Really a shame for the UK.
Problem with money is that we spend most of our funds for the ISAF operations. As a result, most of our Transall cargoplanes are grounded and there is a lack of GTK Boxer WAPC. Another problem is that we suspended conscript service of young men. The Bundeswehr has now a segment of recruiters, similar as in the USA. In my days (late 1980`s) we got reviewed for fitness and served our time.
Nowadays the Tag der Infanterie (Infantry Day), an inside show at Hammelburg Infantry School is blistering with boys and girls to get them acquainted with the Bundeswehr.
How have the world gone down.

The big tank forces (and armies) are now all in the Middle East and Asia. I believe India builds and operates more T-90s than Russia. Are military reductions in Europe based on expense, isolationism or maybe a little of both? Is it because tanks are seen as too vulnerable?

The British Government is trying to bolster the British Armed Forces with reservists or TA in the UK. The Territorial Army can only be trained to a certain level because they are part time soldiers, but the government will not worry about this until it is too late, plus of course the fact that they are having difficulty getting the number of TA wanted never mind retaining them.

Whenever the US goes into a conflict the British usually go as well, and due to the limited numbers it puts undue strain on the troops we have got as they don't get enough down time. It is criminal what has been done in the name of austerity at a time when the Middle East is falling apart and the Russians are playing at being Soviets once more.

I'm reminded of the old addage;
"those who do not learn from history are destined to repeat it..."

Hi All,

Trust me you guy's have nothing to complain about, before I left Nz our wonderful & knowledgeable labour government scrapped our old A4 skyhawks...but thankfully we had a skunk works project going & now our ground troops are covered by figther with such amazing cloaking device's that not only are they invisible to radar but also the naked eye!!
Then our navy was given the massive honour of having a ship named after the only combat solider to ever win two VC's, Yes I am aware that two WW1 doctors also had two, and we ended up with a converted orange carrying dutch or spainish ferry as a supposed roll on / roll of supply ship.
Then we supposedly turn our army into a light infantry / airmoble type "thing", with no Helicopter gunships, no real heavy / medium choppers, well we do have 8 or 9 NH90's, no moblie arty.
Lucky for us no one wants a country without any nucular issue's, has clean food & water & resonable weather!!

Mike

You forgot the sheep Mike.

Well, the UK is sending 75 "advisors" to Ukraine, and if those Russkies cut up rough, we'll send the OTHER half of the army too!

This is totally going in my signature.

be lucky you don't know how much men and Strv122 tanks we have in Sweden...

120?

right, yes we have 120 strv 122 but we have only 3 tank company last year with 15 tanks s in ech tank company so we can say 45 tanks (15 in boden I19 and 30 in Skövde P4 and we will put 15 on Gotland without crew and the other are stored or being upgraded i think... And i don't even think we have crew for 120 tanks...

So we shall be happy and hope Nato will help us if something happens