Ready to fight in divisional strength: Bundeswehr must speed up
Created: 06/30/2022, 06:25
Bundeswehr soldiers during an exercise in Münster, Lower Saxony.
© Philipp Schulze/dpa
15,000 soldiers, 65 planes, 20 ships: After the NATO summit, the Bundeswehr is to hurry and deploy large numbers of combat-ready troops - on land, on water and in the air.
Madrid - The possible enemy is Russia: After NATO decided in Madrid on a new armed forces model for quick reactions to attacks on the eastern flank, military planners in Germany superimposed their concepts.
As early as next year, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg wants a good part of the planned 300,000 men and women to be deployed as rapid reaction forces in the alliance.
Stoltenberg repeatedly cited the German concept for a combat brigade in Lithuania as an example.
Germany wants to provide an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 men and women to support the NATO partner in the Baltic States against possible aggression.
Heavy weapons and ammunition - according to the concept for the brigade's operations - are kept in Lithuania, and the soldiers are then quickly relocated in the event of tension.
An "advanced leadership element" under Brigadier General Christian Nawrat from Neubrandenburg (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania) is to keep the military command lines in hand and maintain local knowledge.
New dimensions because of the Ukraine war
Germany has been leading a NATO battle group in the country since 2017 and initially provided 600 soldiers in a rotation process.
After the Russian attack on Ukraine, the Bundeswehr activated reinforcements and sent 350 more soldiers, equipped with the Panzerhaubitze 2000 and the Ozelot anti-aircraft system.
After Russia's attack on Ukraine, plans are again being made in completely different dimensions in order to be able to send reinforcements to the NATO partners in the east and south-east at short notice.
“We have already announced that we are ready to provide a division, i.e. 15,000 soldiers, and of course the material to go with it.
We're talking about around 65 aircraft and 20 ships here," said Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) in Madrid on the German contribution to the increased rapid reaction forces.
"NATO must be strong, and that must also be reflected in the number of soldiers." Germany is a little more cautious than Stoltenberg when it comes to the time frame and names 2024 as the goal.
To date, NATO has formed four battle groups (“eFP battle groups”): they exist in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia as well as in Poland.
The soldiers are exchanged every six months, partly because the NATO-Russia Founding Act does not allow Allied troops to be permanently stationed in Eastern Europe.
Now there is also a geographic expansion, for which four more battlegroups are set up.
In Slovakia, Germany is taking part with 1,000 soldiers.
And the German Navy has already confirmed that it is ready to take on a leadership role in the strategically important Baltic Sea and could set up a regional headquarters for NATO naval forces in Rostock.
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The task force, which has provided the Bundeswehr with individual capabilities for international stabilization missions over the past three decades, is to be rapidly turned into a powerful force for so-called high-intensity combat.
need for a change in mentality
Terms for this have been circulating behind closed doors for some time: "Warworthiness" describes a concept in which weapons and ammunition are stored in large numbers and at a corresponding cost in order to have them available at all times.
"Victory ability" is a word for the fact that large units prevail against an equal military opponent, i.e. they can beat him in battle or at least block military objectives for him.
The need for a change in mentality is also being discussed.
The past decades have been determined by striving for the greatest possible security in operations against largely inferior opponents.
At the same time, the military administration has become official, which is also reflected in the over-regulated procurement system.
NATO's increased willingness is "the right reaction and logical consequence of the Russian attack on Ukraine," said Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (FDP), Chairwoman of the Defense Committee, in Berlin.
This is a “gigantic challenge” for Germany.
"It will be a joint task of politicians, the Bundeswehr and industry to meet NATO's requirements," she says.
Transparency is also necessary.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is a realist when he publicly emphasizes that Germany will soon have the largest conventional army within NATO in Europe.
dpa
