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Armor/AFV: Modern Armor
Modern armor in general.
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Bundeswehr ends shrinkage
HermannB
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Bayern, Germany
Joined: October 14, 2008
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Posted: Monday, May 09, 2016 - 09:09 PM UTC
Our Mistress of Defense announced today that the shrinkage of the Bundeswehr has an end. since the end of Cold War, we (and other countries) continouisly reduced our manpower and equipment. Now Mrs. von der Leyen plans to hire 7000 more soldiers and civil employees. Hopefully we will see some new vehicles, too.

http://web.de/magazine/politik/leyen-beendet-aera-abruestung-31546466

Some good images of GTK Boxer in Afghanistan.

P.S. Don`t mind that long-haired guy. It`s just a foolish Green Politician who is against everything.
billflorig
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Hawaii, United States
Joined: January 20, 2015
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Posted: Monday, May 09, 2016 - 10:12 PM UTC
HermannB,

Great news! Is it true that the Bundestag passed legislation to develop the Leopard 3? I trained heavily from 87-90 with 12th Panzer Division, specifically 351 Panzer and 352 Panzergrenadier BN in Mellrichstadt. Those were great days! Russia is a real threat again and a Bundeswehr with 300 tanks is woefully small. Let's hope that this is rectified in a big way!

Ich bin kein mensch...ich bin kein tier...ich bin din Panzergrenadier!

Tschuss...

Bill
HeavyArty
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Florida, United States
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Posted: Monday, May 09, 2016 - 10:27 PM UTC
Sounds like a move in the right direction. With the +7000, what will that take your total strength up to?

Hopefully we (US Army) will start growing again after this November's election. We are currently the smallest we have been since WWII, and still getting smaller.
HermannB
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Posted: Monday, May 09, 2016 - 11:03 PM UTC
@ Bill,
not sure about the "Leopard 3" project. Some sources say that Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Nexter will team up to build another Euro-MBT, hopefully with better results than the old MBT-70 project. Unfortunatly, Mellichstadt Kaserne has been closed some years ago, but some good souls made a museum in the Stabsgebäude with lots of stuben, weapons, uniforms and other stuff. Outside the building they have a Marder 1 A3, Schützenpanzer kurz and Schützenpanzer HS 30.

http://www.pzgren352.de/DokuZ/dokuz.html

@Gino
The current strenght of the Bundeswehr is about 177.000 soldiers, that would make 184.000 then. Ridicuolus when compared with approx. 500.000 in the Cold War.
Quartercav
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Hessen, Germany
Joined: February 06, 2014
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Posted: Tuesday, May 10, 2016 - 12:11 AM UTC
Hi,
But what is manpower without modern warfare?
mmeier
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Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
Joined: October 22, 2008
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Posted: Tuesday, May 10, 2016 - 03:37 AM UTC

Quoted Text

@ Bill,
not sure about the "Leopard 3" project. Some sources say that Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Nexter will team up to build another Euro-MBT, hopefully with better results than the old MBT-70 project. Unfortunatly, Mellichstadt Kaserne has been closed some years ago, but some good souls made a museum in the Stabsgebäude with lots of stuben, weapons, uniforms and other stuff. Outside the building they have a Marder 1 A3, Schützenpanzer kurz and Schützenpanzer HS 30.

http://www.pzgren352.de/DokuZ/dokuz.html

@Gino
The current strenght of the Bundeswehr is about 177.000 soldiers, that would make 184.000 then. Ridicuolus when compared with approx. 500.000 in the Cold War.


And that 500,000 where just the active part of the West German army. The east had another 170,000. And both had huge reservist forces due to 15/18 month conscription and stored equipment.

Germany could expand to 370,000 under current treaties.

But the problem is money, currently the army operates by robbing Paul to equip Peter. Add in that some gear is old (Marder, Transall, Lynx) while the follow up gen does not work (A400, Puma, NH90) and it gets worse. But the army is family friendly and has a 40h week.
billflorig
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Hawaii, United States
Joined: January 20, 2015
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Posted: Tuesday, May 10, 2016 - 11:47 AM UTC
HermannB,

Just google "Leopard 3 tank approved by Bundestag". Many links and articles on the subject will appear. For some reason I can't paste links tonight!

I just got the Meng Leo 1A5, and Panzerhaubitze 2000, the Leo2A4 is next, then the Gepard. I love modern German Armor!

Thanks for the 352 link! On another note, do you know anywhere I can get 12th Panzer division decals for my Leo1 circa 1987?

Tschuss,

Bill
HermannB
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Bayern, Germany
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Posted: Tuesday, May 10, 2016 - 06:24 PM UTC
Hi Bill,
I usually don`t care for anything that might just be approved by government. I rather wait `til I see it somewhere in a Bundeswehr Kaserne.
As for 12th PD decals, there is a company called TL-Modell that had a wide range of Bundeswehr decals in 1/35 scale, 1/72 scale and 1/87 scale, but I think they skipped the large scale ones.
You might google for TL-Modellbau or TL-Decals.
Cheers
H.-H.
Gepardschrauber
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Bayern, Germany
Joined: December 02, 2015
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Posted: Monday, August 01, 2016 - 11:23 PM UTC

Quoted Text

HermannB,

... I trained heavily from 87-90 with 12th Panzer Division, specifically 351 Panzer and 352 Panzergrenadier BN in Mellrichstadt. ...

Sure about 351? Brigade 35 was a PzGrenBrig. That means
one mixed PzGren Btl (351), two PzGrenBtl (352 and 353) one PzBtl (354) and one PzArtBtl (355)
The PzGrenBtl 351 had one HQ Coy (1./351), two PzGren Coy 2./-, 3./351) and one Pz Coy 4./351).

Perhaps you mean 4. 351?

Jürgen
Cantstopbuyingkits
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European Union
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Posted: Monday, August 01, 2016 - 11:38 PM UTC

Quoted Text

Sounds like a move in the right direction. With the +7000, what will that take your total strength up to?

Hopefully we (US Army) will start growing again after this November's election. We are currently the smallest we have been since WWII, and still getting smaller.


Don't you still get 2x the amnount of spending as the next 3 biggest military spenders combined?
Bonaparte84
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Hessen, Germany
Joined: July 17, 2013
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Posted: Tuesday, August 02, 2016 - 12:41 AM UTC

Quoted Text


Quoted Text

Sounds like a move in the right direction. With the +7000, what will that take your total strength up to?

Hopefully we (US Army) will start growing again after this November's election. We are currently the smallest we have been since WWII, and still getting smaller.


Don't you still get 2x the amnount of spending as the next 3 biggest military spenders combined?


Nah, only something like 45 % of the world's military budget
lol

Regarding the new Leopard 3 topic, it seems like Rheinmetall is providing the first step and a good reason for a new MBT:
http://defense-update.com/20160614_rheinmetall-ups-tank-firepower-with-new-130mm-gun.html
brekinapez
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Georgia, United States
Joined: July 26, 2013
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Posted: Tuesday, August 02, 2016 - 04:53 AM UTC
So, this isn't about the soldiers no longer being required to ford through cold water?
Bravo1102
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Joined: December 08, 2003
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Posted: Tuesday, August 02, 2016 - 05:15 AM UTC

Quoted Text


Quoted Text

Sounds like a move in the right direction. With the +7000, what will that take your total strength up to?

Hopefully we (US Army) will start growing again after this November's election. We are currently the smallest we have been since WWII, and still getting smaller.


Don't you still get 2x the amnount of spending as the next 3 biggest military spenders combined?


That's assuming that places like China and Russia are being honest with their numbers.

Actually it's because everything the US military buys has a 50% mark-up. The US has a smaller military but has to pay more than everyone else to keep Congress happy.
SEDimmick
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New Jersey, United States
Joined: March 15, 2002
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Posted: Tuesday, August 02, 2016 - 07:49 PM UTC
One thing that is completely ignored when it comes to the US DOD budget is that its actually the world's single largest employer, including 700k+ civilians.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2015/06/23/the-worlds-biggest-employers-infographic/#e00b77251d09

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