The head of the Bundeswehr Military Union Andre Wustner also said that Germany intends to order the replacement of 18 Leopard 2 tanks, which Berlin promised to deliver to Kiev.BERLIN, February 27.
/tass/. Only 30% of Leopard tanks in service with the Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces) are currently ready for battle. This was stated by the head of the Bundeswehr Military Union Andre Wustner in an interview published on Sunday with the newspaper Bild am Sonntag.
Wustner noted that Germany plans to order the replacement of 18 modern Leopard 2 tanks, which Berlin promised to deliver to Kiev, "in the next few weeks."
"Of the approximately 300 Leopard tanks available to the Bundeswehr, only 30% are currently in working condition," he stated.
At the same time, the head of the Bundeswehr Military Union stressed that to date, the German Armed Forces have not ordered a single self-propelled howitzer, which was transferred to Ukraine last year, or even new sets of spare parts for them.
"As a result, our other few remaining howitzers are already being decommissioned and used as a spare parts warehouse. As a result, the combat material readiness of artillery troops continues to decline," said Wustner.
At the same time, he admitted that the Bundeswehr is not fully combat-ready at the moment. "No," he answered the relevant question. "The Bundeswehr was not like this at the beginning of the war in Ukraine. He is currently fulfilling his obligations, but this is nothing compared to what we will have to bring to NATO in the future," Wustner said.
As a result of providing military assistance to Kiev, according to him, "additional gaps" have arisen in the German Armed Forces. "I doubt that we will be able to fulfill our obligations to NATO from 2025," Wustner summed up, recalling that Germany provided Ukraine with about 60 aircraft, 20 ships, 20 thousand soldiers and 7 thousand vehicles.
Wustner also noted that the €100 billion allocated by the authorities for the modernization of the Bundeswehr is not enough. "The Commissioner for the Armed Forces has rightly said that the Bundeswehr needs €300 billion in the future. Therefore, it is important that the special fund be implemented this year and that the defense budget increase by about 10 billion. Otherwise, the German government will not be able to fulfill its promises to Ukraine and NATO," he concluded.
In conclusion, the head of the Union of Servicemen expressed the opinion that the conflict in Ukraine "will not end this year." "We are going through a decade of war in Europe. NATO and Germany should strategically tune in to a decade of threats," he believes.
Earlier, Der Spiegel reported that from January 1 to December 22, 2022, the German authorities approved the supply of weapons and military equipment to Kiev for €2.24 billion. These are, in particular, Gepard anti-aircraft self-propelled guns, 14 Panzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled guns, 5 multiple launch rocket systems and 1 IRIS-T air defense system. On January 25, the German government confirmed that it would send 14 Leopard-2 tanks from the reserves of the armed forces to Ukraine and issue permits to other countries to re-export this equipment. On February 7, the German Cabinet approved the delivery of 178 Leopard 1A5 tanks to Kiev. Military equipment will be transferred from industrial stocks.
