Why the German Army is Rebuilding (again) 

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Germany:So you want us to build up a large army, march through Poland and confront Russia. NATO: Yes Germany: Can I have this in writing

As a German I find it funny to read articles every 5 years about how our army is “rebuilding.” You can go back to 2010 and read articles about how we’re now “rebuilding”. I’m not convinced, mainly because being in the military in Germany still just isn’t competitive enough in terms of social status, or in terms or remuneration. With a masters degree your starting salary as an officer in training will be around 30-36K, and you will have to sign a 12 YEAR CONTRACT. Any takers? If Germany modeled itself more after the US in terms of compensation, perks, social status, shorter contracts I think it would have more luck.

A big problem is that the german defence industry is providing equipment for half of the continent. Around 53% of military hardware in all of europe is german, factories, workshops and shipyards are completely clogged up with orders. Its essentially stuck between a rock and a hard place. If it fulfills these orders first, Germany will be criticized for not rebuilding its army quick enough, if it chooses to pause these orders and rebuild its own stocks first, it’ll be criticized for not supporting their allies in times of need. Looking at you, Poland.

The big problem was that politicians thought the Bundeswehr was no longer necessary. The position of defense minister was given to incompetent people.

Luckily at the end of WW2, us Germans have managed to hide one single villager - took a while but now we are just rebuilding everything.

Germany: * Looks at Japan* Japan: "This time without Italy?"

The sentence "surrounded by allies" was often used in Germany as "von Freunden umzingelt", what even is more drastic, because "umzingeln" tends to be used even more in military vocabulary, and isn't that neutral as "surrounded". It's like "Encircled by friends"

“Third time is the charm…” 🗿

"Who rests, rusts" (wer rastet der rostet) is just the inverse of "a rolling stone gathers no moss". There is this ongoing talk about the percentage of GDP Germany spends on defence but here is the thing: Germany still spent 66.8 billion in 2023 compared to, say, France's 61.3 billion. While I for one, and I am German, am glad that defence spending will be increased it is not just a matter of how much is spent but also HOW it spent. Germany has no nuclear arsenal, no aircraft carrier or anything bigger than a frigate and a relatively small number of personnel. Germany has very few bases outside of Germany. These are things that contribute massively to the US defence budget. The Bundeswehr SHOULD be in far, far better shape but money has been wasted hand over fist for decades.

“The boys are back in town”

In the middle of the 80s, when I did my military service, the statement was: The (only) task of the Bundeswehr is to delay the Warsaw Pact for three days, so that the USA, GB and France can set up a proper defense on the Rhine. So much for the quality of the Bundeswehr in the 80s ....

The West: Germany, stop having an army! Germany: Ok. The West: Germany, why don't you have an army? Germany: FUFUFUFUUFUFUFUFU

your first try on "zeitenwende" was half decent, but it went straight south from there :)

I love how my guy pronounced “Bundeswehr” different each time he said it. So good!

Germanys recent (last 2 months) shopping list expansion (in addition to ongoing precurement): - 105 Leopard 2A8 - 20 Eurofighter - 123 Boxer IFV - 1,511 logistics vehicles (trucks) - 19 Skyranger (shorad) - increased it's order of F126 frigates from 4 to 6 - (plans to) increase it's order of F35 fighters from 35 to 43 - increased it's order of patriot systems from 4 to 8 - artillery shells for 8,5 billion € They are also looking into buying 148 more boxer IFV's and up to 168 Boxer artillery systems that's all ... I think-

As a German Veteran (Gebirgsjägerbrigade 23) with 2 Tours in Afghanistan and 1 in Kosovo i'm happy to see you do a Video on this Topic. There is a ton of Misinformation out there about the German Military so it's good to see a Video putting Things clear, at least most Stuff! Prost & Cheers from Berchtesgaden in the Bavarian Alps

I am German and I know the irony in my country: We produce good weapons, but our military is very badly equipped and no one wants to join the military here. But that has to do with politics, as both national pride and military has a bad reputation because of history in Germany.

Incredibly impressive how quickly y’all got this video out after the other one was restricted by RU-vid. The spare parts army appreciates you

The West Germans didn't have to "look" across the Berlin Wall to see hardships in East Germany. My Aunt was born and raised in Berlin. Her cousins lived in East Germany and my aunt Hilda found herself near Munich at the end of WW2 (she spent time in the Dachau concentration camp and later escaped and hid out on a farm until the end of the war). Later she married my uncle Calvin who was stationed in West Germany in the US Army during the Cold War. Every so often my aunt would fly to West Germany and take the train to East Germany. Often, she was required to bribe the border guards to be let into East Germany. Since exchanging money was technically illegal, she would often use items not commonly found in East Germany to bribe the guards. The most common items she used were American cigarettes and bananas were another popular item she would bring over along with toilet paper.

as a German, I'm really impressed by how you managed to get through all this

ngl having the Warsaw Pact on our side now is pretty awesome. I haven't watched your Poland videos yet but this one has been fabulous!

Perun’s video on German defense economics would be a great follow on to anyone interested in this video.

I can already hear a song about fluttering bees and beautiful white flowers.

Merkel's achievement - denuding the Bundeswehr and banning the song Panzerlied. When I was stationed in Germany and we established a Partnership with a German artillery battalion, my German counterpart said to me at the ceremony that he envied the American army. I asked him why and he said to me, "You have a history. You can celebrate your achievement of the past. We don't have any history before 1955." I detected some sadness in that remark.

Again, good Journalism here. You took a technically complex document full of jargon and turned it into something easily understood by most people regardless of their aptitudes. Well done, keep up the good work. Thumbs Up 👍from me.

Regarding the issue of public support - I have a lot of left leaning German friends in their thirties and below who have changed their mind on Germany's pacifist stance, in contrast to those older. I think what's happening is that the older generations believe that war in Europe is impossible, as it's a solved problem where the younger people never saw that "fix" when it happened and feel the elders are being naive.

The British Army was supposed to be out of Germany by 2020. I'm a reservist; I was there in 2019 and recalled seeing tanks, armoured vehicles, and regulars withdrawn back to the UK. I returned last year before deploying overseas. I saw more challenger tanks and personnel taking up residence. Not just us, but plenty of American, Estonian, and Slovak troops around, too. I asked some of the locals, and they said their military is far too small, and with the threat of a resurgent Russia, they appreciated allied countries maintaining a presence. A little ironic when the British Armed Forces are at their smallest levels since the end of the Napoleonic wars. Our regular colleagues are under more pressure and are having to rely on us more often.

As a German, I'm extremely happy about this development. Finally Germany realizes that our naive pacifist view was foolish. I never understood this mentality tbh. *Especially* because of German history we have a moral and practical responsibility to stand up against evil and tyranny and defeat it. This can only be achieved through strength, not weakness and nice talks. Germany should absolutely be the most powerful military force in Europe.

very good summarize of the Bundeswehr Situation. Hit the spot. greetings from an Panzergrenadier on Marder in the 2000ies

I've enjoyed many of your videos, but this one takes the cake. You clearly explained why the Bundeswehr has to play catchup now after several decades of neglect by the politicians. As a German who did his 15 months of military service in 1983/84 as a Panzergrenadier (mechanized infantry), I have been frustrated for years by this. Then "West Germany" with 60 million inhabitants was clearly able to afford a fully equipped 500K military without making anyone suffer. The "paradox" of why a large majority of Germans support increasing the size of the Bundeswehr while rejecting Germany assuming a leadership role in military affairs is easily explained: We want Germany to again be able to defend itself, while clearly anchored in NATO as a major contributor to the alliance. Germany has no overseas territories (unlike France and the UK) or old obligations or interests in former colonies, so the defense of Germany and its neighbors and allies is the main task. This is best achieved in agreement with the alliance partners, first and foremost the United States. The peace, freedom, and prosperity postwar Germany enjoyed until now is the best proof that this policy is working. A final comment on why Germany did not send troops to the first Gulf War in 1991: It literally would have been illegal, since the constitution (Grundgesetz) clearly forbade any military involvement outside the defense of Germany or a NATO ally. That was changed in later years to allow missions like Kosovo and Afghanistan. The Grundgesetz was proofread and signed off on by the United States before the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949. I remember there were a lot of people upset back then because the German government and the Bundeswehr massively helped the US Military anyway with logistical support in Germany during the first Gulf War, and that there were German officers working in NATO AWACS planes over the Gulf.

Well done on regarding the historical background. As for procurement, it's a bit more complicated: - Nobody expected a war or a Zeitenwende, so for the first 9 months of the war, Germany's DefSec was some recently divorced cat lady who only took the job to be in the cabinet until the Sec. of the Interior would run for another position, allowing her to slide over and occupy her chair in the Cabinet. If you're watching this video, there's a substantial chance that you know a lot more about the military than Mrs. Lambrecht. - Eventually Scholz had to send her on a mission to find a big shiny pearl in the Arabian desert and made the last common-sense, competent man left in the SPD defense secretary. (Oskar Pistorius) He went from "Who?" to most popular politician within 8 weeks. Procurements so far: - 6 F-126 frigates, the biggest warships built since the war - 3 Type 212 CD submarines with another 4 going to Norway, our new best friend (they opened their natural gas floodgates when Putin tried to blackmail us, God bless 'em) - 2 ARROW III ballistic missile defense batteries from Israel, each of which could cover the area from Finland to the Black Sea, - 4 new Patriot batteries - 19 Skyranger 30 mobile Boxer platforms that have the same radar/optoelectric drone detection and AHEAD gun system as Skynex - 8 Iris-T SLM medium range air defense batteries and 16 Boxer-based Iris-T SLS mobile air-defense batteries, - 123 IFV-Boxer with Lance turret, produced at Australia's licensed Boxer production center of Tank competence in Boxer excellence (I forget the real name) - 130 IFV Boxers with the Puma's revolutionary turret (and without the revolutionary crap below the turret that doesn't work), - 150 RCH-155 wheeled howitzers (guess if it's based on a Boxer chassis!) that have a fully automatic AGM (automated gun module) based on the Panzerhaubitze 2000 and only need to slow down to fire without ever fully stopping, - 5-10 new K-130 corvettes - 60 Chinook-H helicopters - 62 H145M light attack helicopters (we wanted the Bell Vyper but that would have pissed off the French) - just a couple days ago we re-introduced limited conscription based on the Swedish model to get back to over 200k and expand the active reserve every year. If the traffic light coalition (red-green-yellow (liberalitarians)) should come apart and the CDU gets back into government, you can expect significantly accelerated rearmament and increased defense spending. If the coalition holds until the elections - those three parties have gone from well over 50% in the last elections to 35% or less, while the CDU gets 31% and could probably govern with the Greens as junior coalition partner - and they're among the most hawkish when it comes to supporting Ukraine.

Once a Phonics addict, always a Phonics addict. Stay strong Cappy

In 2011, conscription was suspended. Now there are discussions about reintroducing it.

As a typically non-proud German, I'd like to thank you for calling it "historical" pacifism. Pacifism, curiosity, and the idea of a brotherhood of Europe is what I grew up with, but obviously there is a much darker side to be found to German history and you do not have to look far. So calling German pacifism "historic" feels exactly right and it feels like a compliment at the same time. Also, I would like to commend you on your pronunciation of the word "Zeitenwende"! Especially the "Z" isn't easy and I think you have earned it to say it as often as you wish ;)

Hey brother, I love the way you violently throw those quotes from things semi-related to the subject matter. Now just end the show with a random thought/quote you enjoy. One of my favorite ones. “I am a warrior, so that my son may be a merchant, so that his son may be a poet.” ― John Quincy Adams

As always, awesome episode! You've come so far since I first started watching you! Those phonics deep dives obviously paid off! ;P Anyway, keep it up. You're my go to guy for this side of things.

Thanks for giving an unbiased and factbased take on the matter. Too many times in recent years the only thing Europeans and especially Germans would hear from the US was slander for not maintaining a huge army and instead giving wealth to it‘s people in times of peace.

As a Polish citizen i am happy for German people to get their Army together it was long time that we had need for that , it was 3 generations of peace and prosperity, but eventually people forget and the sabers are rattling again. "If you want peace prepare for war" Hopefully this will deter anybody because when the s*** hits the fen say goodbye what we have build and achieved over this peaceful times, back to the stone age we go. 5 billion dead in 72 min and the rest will envy the dead Peace to all and God bless everyone.

Your appreciation for the countries and cultures you speak about is something I really like. Keep the good work up!

Since the 70.s there is a proverb/phrase in the Bundeswehr for shortages "The Bundeswehr is there to hold off the enemy at the border until the military arrives"

Excellent! As a German, I haven’t heard a better compilation of facts and intelligent analysis of the situation on this topic yet. Well done, „average infantryman“!

What surprised me the most of how much Germany was able to cut down red tape to install a floating gas-processing facility to allow the import of LNG. Read somewhere that under normal circumstances it would have taken like up to 8 years. After the war started, this was cut down to 6 months. 6 months to write the laws, implement it and connect the new facility to the existing gas network. That is quite an achievement.

The benefit of being an American & your country being in some kind of war constantly since WW2, is I never worry about our government not spending enough on the military or equipment/kit shortages

Love your videos big dawg

All that money doesn't help if bureaucracy has it that security checks for new recruits and reserves require four bloody years to begin with.

Bundeswehr: we plan plan to increase our combat strength to 200k. World: 🤯 Meanwhile the Kaiser: 1 million soldiers combat ready, 3,5 million in reserve. Mustache man: 1,8 million combat ready, 7 million in reserve (waffen SS not included).

The GWOT was one thing but the Ukraine war really gave a more accurate picture of modern combat which will change anyway given the capabilities of the participants. Drone warfare will be normalized and considerations for countering drones will be critical. Therefore moving supplies might be far more difficult, manning bunkers or fixed positions and the like will be far more difficult. It will take layers of defenses never seen before to counter the possibilities.

Actually this "Defense White Paper" is released every like 10-15 years in Germany (1994, 2006, 2016) , albeit the last time it focused on remodelling the Army to face threats like Al-Quaida :) The one before dealt with remodelling the German Army after the End of the Cold war, like throwing all the structures that must now be rebuild in the rubbish (like keeping 2000 active Leopard tanks, (1990) or having 495.000 active soldiers, + 900.000 Reserve) Now its all coming back, but will be more costly to rebuild everything that has been scrapped.

spc thx 4 that, I was in this army 30 years ago, and it was a nightmare back then, short of everything, bureaucracy to death and into oblivion - unbelievable.

Thanks for adding the historical perspective and the reasons for the underfunding, especially for american viewers. As a German, I can state that your analysis is absolutely correct, there's only few information to add: Germany is facing several problems, e.g. demographic change, immigration, old infrastructure (roads, bridges, rail, phone/internet, ...), high costs for public administration. All this leads to a lack of funding in all ministries, since there has been made an addendum to the Grundgesetz (the equivalent to other countries constitution) in 2009 which prohibits a deficit in the federal budget (the so called "Schuldenbremse" ~ "debt brake"). Unthinkable for US citizens, I know. Hope you can understand why we're struggling

As much as i heard in a german defence dedicated YT channel, this first half year of 2024, there were 33 approved projects by the german budget committee: 1. Development of close and next air defence system, production of 4 squadrons in 2027, 1,2 billion 2. 19 Skyranger 30 A3 are being purchased, Prototype end of year, series 2026, 650 Mio €, with option of additional 30 3. Clothing and personal equipment for regular soldiers and special forces like combat clothing, protective vests, combat helmets and 110 liter backpacks. Marine gets complete new clothing. Logistic and storage is included, 2,2 bio € 4. 16.000 additional night vision devices `Theon Mikron` for 162 mio €, which are 41k total ordered, 12k already delivered 5. New radar development for Eurofighter, 102 mio € 6. 4 Patriot systems C3+, 2025-2029, 1,28 bio € 7. 123 heavy gun carrier infantry 'SWATRG INF´ for 1,943 bio € and additional 750 mio € for 'Integrated logistic support', to keep them running, 2025 - 2030 8. Something like headsets with hearing protection function, first 30k for 81 mio € 9. Agdus-System for Puma, 258 pieces for this duel simulator, 109 mio € 10. 15.180 training rockets for the Tiger attack helicopters, 2024 - 2026, 54 mio €, can later go up to 31k 11. Eurofighter system definition phase, a bunch of upgrades, 97 mio € 12. Several things around the Eurofighter, like the education and training, mission briefings, compatibility and other things, 43 mio € 13. NH-90 helicopters software upgrade and additional systems, 217 mio € 14. Over 962k smoke grenades 'TYP DM45' till 2027, 67 mio €, can go up to 1.5 mio grenades 15. AMRAAMs for Eurofighter, 178 mio €, additional ones in September 16. IT components, 146,2 mio € 17. Spare parts logistic, 324,7 mio € 18. The 4 F123 Brandenburg class frigates get an upgrade for 1,2 bio €, 2026 - 2029 19. 155mm artillery shells for 880 mio € (was 5th June, there are orders in what? Up to 8,8 bio € now in 7the July?) 20. 1250 unprotected trucks, 265 protected trucks, payload 15 tons, plus accesories, end of 2024, 920 mio €, can go up to 4k trucks 21. 48 MK 54 MOD0 Torpedos for P-8a Poseidon and the training and maintenance, 122 mio € 22. German Mission Network Block 2, 2025, around 100 mio € 23. 2 additional frigates F126, 2033 - 2034., 2,8 bio €, additional 300 mio € for maintainence, mission moduls and other stuff 24. Munition, 7,62 mm x 51 soft core and 9mm x 19 soft core, 105 mio € 25. 45 HUDs for Tornados, 2026 - 2027, 66 mio €, dont ask me about that 26. 274 operational missle Brimstone 3 rockets, starters, testing equipment and other stuff, starting 2028, 376 mio €, can go up to 3266 27. 500 Stinger FIM-92 Block 1 with proximity fuse, 2028 - 2029, 395 mio € 28. Development of supersonic strike missile 3SM 'Tyrfing' for frigates, Germany and Norway, 650 mio € for Germanys part 29. 2 communication sattelites and their operating costs, 2027 for at least 15 years, 2,2 bio € 30. 6,5k unprotected, 2 -, 4- ,6- axis, all terrain, all wheel drive, trucks with payloads of 3,5 tons, 5 tons and 15 tons, 610 with containers and other stuff ordered, 313 mio €, delivery starts this year 31. New airfield firefighting vehicles, 2026 - 2029, 84 mio €, with option of addiotional ones on short notice 32. Scouting equipment `BAA' for Fennek, 2027 - 2029, 86 mio € 33. Additional stuff for the F123 Brandenburg class Frigates, 103 mio €

Wild. I'm a kid of the Cold War, and did a lot of reading on NATO readiness vs. Soviet readiness. 18 new tanks? That was predicted to be an amount of tanks lost in a single sector in a half an hour. We (NATO) had what, 9000 tanks combined to try and hold off the Warsaw Pact? Now producing 18 new ones is a landmark event. Just wild.

Wow, that’s a well researched piece of journalism you put up here. Well done!

If we're ever going to make any progress in the West then we need to move beyond WW2, and that includes Germany as well. Good to see some progress, although rebuilding to an armed force of abit over 200k isn't that much, really its the minimum credible deterrent for a country of that size.

Thanks for sharing Cappy

Love your content, btw you slaugthered the word "Zeitenwende" :D greetings from germany

Excellent video, greetings from Germany (:

ww1:wrong turn ww2:rejected ww3:Russia.

Great proverb, "everything has an end, only the Sausage has two"...😆

Whoo! The boys are back in town!

Great research and good summary!!👍

I enjoy all of Task & Purpose videos

Yeah the great thing that comes with standardized ammunition for various equipment across NATO is that yes if one unit runs out of ammo another nearby unit can supply them even if they are completely different countries.

One issue you didn't mention is that the Bundeswehr had begun to be converted to an intervention force that politicians imagined would be used mainly for "humanitarian interventions". So it was converted away from it's prior focus of stopping Soviet massed assault. This is one reason why the numbers of heavy equipment are so low now.

Great analysis as usual.

Pls do a video about the kf51 and 41 ty, as an ex soldier im rly excited for my country to get such a modern technology, and i think a new generation tank since the 90s rly worth a video from you guys !

Japan: We are soooo back Germany: What do you mean by we? Japan: *Parl Harbor incident

Thanks another interesting show, and a good lead in to another video.

Little error at around 7:00 is: the german democratic republic was by its own definition, including the constitution and the name of the only and ruling party (Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, socialist unity party of germany) a socialist state, not a communist one.

Besides "budget cuts" we have also called them "militia bullets" in Canada. 😄👍 I WISH Canada's Defence budget was 3.5% of GDP.

Let me grab some pretzels for this. I wonder how Americans can survive without real beer ;-) Greetings from the other side of the pond

Excellent video like always :)

First of all, good video 👌 I‘m German and I know the Bundeswehr pretty well. To say the military is „rebuilding“ in these day doesn‘t seem to describe the situation too well. The Bundeswehr is actually trying to do rebuild itself, but this whole process is VERY difficult due to the „debuilding“ it suffered from for decades. With debuilding I mean the lack of pretty much everything: In the past the politicians didn‘t care a sht about our military and that had consequences. Some examples (a few were given by you already): Little amount of vehicles (like tanks or jets), bc the majority was exported. Most of the existing ones don‘t work properly bc of production issues or missing spare parts. The biggest problem, of course, the lack of personal: For every recruit that joins a year, 10 vets leave. That‘s also thanks to the low esteem the Bundeswehr gets from the people. I would even go so far to say that from every nation in the NATO, Germany is by far the one where the military is least respected amongst the people.

Where did Cappy’s beard go? Zeitenvendah?

Lmao “..even submarines”

France, Britain and America in the 90s: "No germany, we dont trust you enough to have an big army after reunification! Reduce it to a bare minum if you want reunification!" Germany in the 90s: "Ok, than we dont realy need an army anymore than." France, Britain and America today: "Why does germany doesnt have an army? Why do they hate it that much?"

A _whole_ eighteen new Leopard 2 tanks? 18. That'll show the Russians.

very well researched

10:25 the part about the burden being shifted to Poland is a good point as we can now see Poland heavily investing in military

Learning the history of my country by an American. ✌️

Cappy, your German is horrible, but it is funny. Having served three tours in Germany, it was always clear to me that the Germans were never going to recreate WW II. If they were going to invade anywhere, it would be a sunny nude beach. I will be interested to see if the Germans can pull off the improvements but I am not confident.

With how well German engineering is, they should focus on drones and become a robot superpower. Could easily surpass Turkey in a couple of years in the drone race

From the USA, Germany, wake tf up. Your time being dormant is over. Grow up and play your responsible role in Europe and the World. The World needs the Military Power Germany. We trust you Germany!

How many ways can Cappy pronounce Bundeswehr? (Most were wrong)

How many times do they have to teach you old man

The puma problems were kinda overblown. Some of the problems were crewmembers forgetting to turn on the heating

When the Arbiter teams up with you in Halo 3

Hey, I’ve seen this one before!

I find it ironic that they’re running low on tanks and submarines

Pretty sure Task & Purpose has done a video on a German Tank where he talks about how cooked the German Military Structure is and how a Leopard Tank had to be outfitted with blinkers etc as it had to apply to a certain Road Safety Standard, basically every decision is subject to non Military personal who compromise the efficiency of the actual Military to properly outfit and structure them self's.

In 2018 we used a broken field telephone for basic training. I think it was the successor of the ww2 model. That was kinda sad to be honest.

I wonder why this video hasn't been demonetized, like the video about the hostages release.

You were going to cover that israeli operation before youtube flagged or demonitized you video,will it see the light of day ?

You are reading the graph at 9.44 wrong You state: 'Tanks down from 4700 to 300' After that you correctly state '18 less submarines' so it is probably a mishap. The graph show that Germany had 5000 tanks and has 300 left a REDUCTION of 4700 they did not have a total of 4700

Going from 180k to 218k troops... "Hey Iron-Man, suit up!" And I hate that I'm saying that, but man- once again hate to say it- but y'all need to get on it

You forgot the 2+4 tready. The German Military was restricted to a maximum of 385.000

actually,with such a divided government,i don't think the german military build up will last. Maybe if their industries will feel threatened by the polish or french rearment.

I was one of those guys stationed at Buedingen, Germany when we had 500,000 in Germany to defend it against the Warsaw Pact. I always find it ironic how far we have fallen from those force levels. USAEUR was a 4 star post with 2 Heavy Corps under him and did not include Africa. Now its a 3 star and includes Africa to get him enough to do.

BTW Germany starts to recreate their AA more Patriots and also reintroduction of AA Systems like the Gepard