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In the Bundeswehr, the "Panzerfaust 3" is one of the standard weapons of the army
Photo: IMAGO/Christoph Hardt / IMAGO/Panama Pictures
The Bundeswehr wants to replenish its own depots as quickly as possible after the deliveries of weapons from troop stocks.
According to SPIEGEL information, this week the defense department urgently requested a special budget of 21 million euros from the budget committee of the Bundestag in order to refill the cartridges for the "Panzerfaust 3" (PF3) delivered to Ukraine.
According to the confidential submission, it is planned to replace the 3,500 cartridges that have been handed in for the weapon system "at short notice" so that the "current need for cartridges can be replenished".
According to the mini dossier, Germany's security interests are "considerably endangered" if the depots are not refilled.
The need is obviously great.
"Appropriate weapons are important for the security policy interests of the Federal Republic of Germany, because effective national and alliance defense requires the Bundeswehr to be able to effectively combat armored enemy forces, even in large numbers, in order to protect the national territory and the to protect the population,” the paper said.
The urgent measure illustrates how badly the Bundeswehr is equipped with weapons for national and alliance defense.
According to SPIEGEL information, the troops only hoarded around 24,000 models of the Panzerfaust 3 before the Russian invasion. That's why the military are urging the depots to be replenished immediately after the deliveries to Ukraine, in order to optimally equip the troops for a possible mission.
Basically, the Bundeswehr could not deliver much to the Ukraine because of its own bottlenecks.
After the government's about-face in the matter of arms deliveries, the troops searched intensively for what could be handed over.
The result was 3,500 models of the Panzerfaust 3 (so-called handles with cartridges), 500 "Stinger" systems, a good 2,000 "Strela" rockets from GDR stocks, a handful of G3 machine guns and the associated ammunition.
According to Minister Christine Lambrecht, the options are exhausted.
Lambrecht under pressure
The SPD minister is currently under pressure like no other member of the government.
Almost every day there are new critical voices from the Ukraine, who criticize the speed and extent of the German arms deliveries in drastic terms.
The opposition is also concentrating on Lambrecht and describes the SPD woman, who was originally appointed interior minister, as a "total failure".
But there is also a crunch within the government.
Economics Minister Robert Habeck and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock gossip about their SPD colleague behind the scenes.
The apparatus in the military department is simply too slow to act on the subject of arms deliveries, new deliveries are being slowed down instead of being pushed.
Lambrecht himself looks bad on the subject.
Until the beginning of the war, she publicly defended adamantly that Germany was not supplying any weapons.
Instead, she announced a delivery of 5,000 safety helmets as a sign of solidarity.
She was sure of scorn and ridicule.
Lambrecht's popularity ratings are already pretty low today.
According to an Allensbach survey, only 16 percent of people in Germany believe that the new defense minister is doing a “good job”.
For comparison: 46 percent of the participants in the survey were of the opinion that Annalena Baerbock was a good foreign minister.
The minister's reputation is now to be saved by a new procedure in which Ukraine should be able to buy directly from the German armaments industry.
After several rounds with industry representatives, the defense department compiled a corresponding list of weapon systems that are readily available.
Now Ukraine should decide for itself what it can use best.