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Originally Posted by mojaveman
At one time during the Cold War the U.S. had nearly 300,000 personnel stationed in Germany alone. Granted that stalemate is over but now we have about a tenth of that number there. With a smaller American commitment in Europe and peacekeeping or humanitarian missions to be fulfilled in the future doesn't Germany have something of a void to fill?
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At one time during the Cold War
West Germany had nearly 500,000 personnel stationed in Germany alone. And that's not counting the NVA. As of January 2014, the
Bundeswehr's actual strength was 185,921.
Notwithstanding the overheated rhetoric of the
American Thinker writer, or perhaps the hopes of some German politicians or generals, there is no real evidence of German rearmament, least of all in form of a unilateral rebuilding of German combat power versus its neighbors.
The budget projections from the
Bundesministerium der Finanzen indicate that, rather than rearming, the defense budget is set to shrink:
Quote:
Verteidigung
Mit dem Regierungsentwurf zum Haushalt 2014 wird die Finanzierung der Bundeswehr nachhaltig gesichert. Die Ausgaben des Verteidigungshaushalts werden im Haushaltsjahr 2014 rund 32,8 Mrd. € betragen und damit rund 0,4 Mrd. € unter den Ansätzen für das Jahr 2013 liegen. Bis zum Jahr 2016 sinkt der Verteidigungshaushalt auf rund 32,1 Mrd. €.
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The savings are expected to come mainly from reduced international commitments, especially with ISAF in Afghanistan. The procurement budget is nowhere near able to satisfy the
Bundeswehr's wishlist of weapons systems to replace much of its aging Cold War-era inventory (Eurofighters to replace the F-4 Phantom, NH-90s for Hueys, Puma IFVs for Marders), much less allow for significantly increasing German military capabilities.
Meanwhile Russia is planning a 44% increase in its defense budget over the same period.