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| Europe |
| Germany Reconsiders Sending Troops on Foreign Missions |
| 2006-10-29 |
| Posted by:mrp |
| #1 http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=735647&C=commentary At 50 Years, Bundeswehr Struggles With Identity The unification of the two German states in 1991 represented the first caesura for the Bundeswehr. At the end of the Cold War in 1989, it had a force size of 495,000, including 218,000 conscripts. Planning for the Army of 2000, begun shortly before unification, still called for 12 divisions with a total of 42 brigades as its starting point. Since unification, plans were made for four rounds of Bundeswehr reductions between 1989 and 2010, which should create an Army of 250,000 soldiers. Of them, 55,000 should be conscripts — in an era when the first conscript generation is already retired. This transformation is supposed to produce a mix of forces, which would include 35,000 as intervention forces, 70,000 intended for stabilization operations and 106,000 conducting support operations. Under this plan, the Army will consist of five divisions and 12 brigades. There will only be six armored battalions left. How dramatic the Army’s transformation really is can be seen in Structure 2010, to be adopted as of 2007. The service will reduce its fleet of main battle tanks from 2,528 to 350, infantry fighting vehicles from 2,077 to 410, artillery pieces from 1,055 to 120 and helicopters from 530 to 240. Within the Air Force, the same radical reductions are planned. The number of combat aircraft is to be reduced from 451 to 262 in 2015 — about 180 Eurofighter Typhoon and 85 Tornado aircraft. There will be three Luftwaffe divisions instead of four. The Navy has managed, with the exception of the naval fighter-bomber, to retain all capabilities even though it has fewer platforms. In 2006, the Navy takes on a new fleet structure. The current five flotillas will be merged into two operational ones. The main platforms will include about 12 frigates, five or more K130 corvettes, six U212 submarines, fewer than 20 mine warfare units, three task force supply vessels and four tenders, 30 MH-90 helicopters and eight P-3C maritime patrol aircraft. It is an open secret that the three-way split of the Bundeswehr into intervention, stabilization and support forces was a fig leaf for the de facto halving of the Army. Further, many issues are still unsettled. For instance, the Luftwaffe’s acquisition of a third Eurofighter Tranche is not yet set. The total Eurofighter fleet could fall to between 120 and 140 aircraft rather than the planned 180. |
| Posted by: RWV 2006-10-29 18:31 |