As of: January 30, 2024, 8:07 p.m
By: Patrick Mayer
Comments
Press
Split
The Bundeswehr is facing a huge NATO maneuver to signal its willingness to defend itself to Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
IPPEN.MEDIA explains the Panzer Division that is in the middle of it all.
Veitshöchheim - The war in Ukraine and the imperialism of Kremlin autocrat Vladimir Putin are worrying the West.
Even Austria is now warning of an attack by Russia, even though the Alpine republic is not even part of NATO.
Major NATO maneuver “Steadfast Defender”: Germany holds 10th Panzer Division
While Moscow is making threatening gestures, the defense alliance with 90,000 soldiers is preparing at full speed for the large-scale exercise “Steadfast Defender”, in which, among other things, the defense of Norway as a supposed weak point on NATO's northeastern flank is being trained.
In the German contingent with 12,000 soldiers, the 10th Panzer Division with its command staff in Veitshöchheim, Franconia, makes up the majority of the troops.
Weapons, battalions, difficulties –
IPPEN.MEDIA
explains the deployment of the 10th PzDiv in “Steadfast Defender”.
Soldiers from Panzergrenadier Battalion 371, which is part of the 10th Panzer Division of the Bundeswehr.
© IMAGO / Funke Photo Services
To deter Vladimir Putin: Bundeswehr sends NATO large tank unit
The division from southern and eastern Germany is, along with the 1st Panzer Division from northern and western Germany, one of two large units in the army, i.e. the German land forces.
The huge NATO exercise comes at a time when, according to Ukrainian soldiers, the Russian army is preparing a major offensive in the east of their country.
Bundeswehr Inspector General Carsten Breuer recently did not rule out a possible Russian confrontation with NATO.
“The fact that Russia is arming itself at the moment and how Putin is positioning himself worries me,” the general told the
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
NATO wants to present correspondingly powerful associations in its deterrence exercise.
NATO contribution from the Bundeswehr: Leopard 2 main battle tank, Marder and Puma
According to the Bundeswehr website, the 10th Panzer Division combines all the main weapon systems that the German army has to offer: the Leopard 2 main battle tank, the Marder and Puma infantry fighting vehicles, the MARS II multiple rocket launcher (similar to the American Himars), the self-propelled howitzer 2000, the wheeled tank GTK Boxer, the recovery tank Büffel and the bridge-laying tank Leguan.
My news
“Lost interest in the topic”: Aiwanger is criticized after outrage over left-wing extremism
Russian military aircraft spotted near Rügen: Air Force catches pilot reading
Putin's T-90 is defeated in a duel - a steel colossus full of weak points
“The enemy is gathering troops”: According to Ukraine soldiers, Putin is preparing a major attack read
Russia reacts to major NATO maneuvers – and threatens “tragic consequences” read
Climate adhesives put an end to it: the tipping point has been exceeded
The fact that Russia is currently arming itself and how Putin is positioning himself worries me.
Bundeswehr General Carsten Breuer in the FAZ
The armored division operates in a network consisting of the weapon systems battle tanks, armored personnel carriers for the infantry and artillery to provide support from a distance.
The Panzerbrigade 12 “Oberpfalz” (PzBrig 12) with around 4,500 soldiers from Cham in eastern Bavaria is significantly involved.
The tank battalions 104 and 363 are likely to be equipped with the “Leopards”, the Panzergrenadier battalions 112 and 122 with the “Marders” and/or “Pumas”.
They bring the foot soldiers into battle, while the main battle tanks fight enemy tanks directly.
10th Armored Division of the Bundeswehr: soldiers from Bavaria, Saxony and Thuringia
The Panzergrenadier Brigade 37 “Free State of Saxony” (PzGrenBrig 37) with troops from Saxony (Frankenberg and Marienberg) and Thuringia (Bad Salzungen) is also likely to rely on the marten or the puma.
According to ZDF, there are 46 tanks in a Bundeswehr battalion.
If only Panzerbrigade 12 in the 10th PzDiv had 92 “Leopards”
According to the
International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS),
the army had a total of 321 Leopard 2 tanks in its inventory in 2022, meaning over 200 were stored with the troops or the German arms industry.
How many will be shipped to Lithuania, where the German focus of the exercise is, is not public.
Bild reported on
a
total of 3,000 Bundeswehr vehicles.
In November 2023, German soldiers took part in a military parade in Lithuania, where parts of the 10th Panzer Division are stationed as part of the Enhanced Forward Presence Lithuania.
© IMAGO/Yauhen Yerchak
Major NATO maneuvers to deter Russia: Bundeswehr in the Baltics
The Artillery Battalion 131 (ArtBtl 131) is stationed near Weiden in the Upper Palatinate, near the huge Grafenwöhr military training area, which is also used by the Americans.
According to the Bundeswehr, the battalion has around 700 soldiers who look after six artillery batteries.
“An artillery battery includes two gun platoons, each with four self-propelled howitzers 2000,” the Bundeswehr writes on its website.
This means that this battalion alone includes 48 (!) of the self-propelled steel colossi.
It is not known how many of these will be shipped to the Baltics during the major NATO exercise under simulated combat conditions.
This is also the biggest challenge of the German contribution to “Steadfast Defender”.
Because: The German Navy does not have such ships to ship a large tank formation across the Baltic Sea.
“Steadfast Defender”: How does the Bundeswehr get its tanks to Lithuania?
The German Air Force's Airbus A400M, with a maximum load of 37 tons, is also not suitable for transporting the "Leopards" and self-propelled howitzers, which makes it likely that the US armed forces will be involved in the German troop relocation.
When the 10th Panzer Division goes to the Baltics as a unit.
(pm)