According to SPIEGEL information, the defense department apparently does not assume that the Bundeswehr can meet its own equipment and personnel goals. The ministry wrote in a confidential letter to the Defense Committee this week that its own plans would "foreseeably be delayed" given the financial planning to date.
For example, it was planned to fully equip NATO's rapid reaction force ("spearhead"), which will again be headed by the Bundeswehr in 2023, without having to borrow material from other units as before. The ministry report now states that spearheading is only "possible with restrictions in quality and quantity". A "material balance" between units is still necessary "as well as a recourse to older equipment that is sometimes required".
The military planners also say goodbye to their commitment to NATO to deploy three fully equipped army divisions, each with around 20,000 soldiers, by the end of 2031. The third major association is now only planned in "cadre" form, ie as a formation that would be filled up with reservists if necessary.
"The Bundeswehr plans are just one year old," says Green Defense politician Tobias Lindner, "and they already collapse like a house of cards".
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