There is not a single part of the German military that is ready for a global conflict, a senior military official has warned.
Colonel André Wüstner, chair of soldier-interest group the German Bundeswehr Association, warned on March 12 that efforts to modernise the force have so far failed to yield significant results.
“We have massive problems in all branches of the armed forces in terms of the mission and the situation,” he told German media.
Col Wüstner insisted that, despite the country’s plans to invest in its armed forces, it “unfortunately” remained the case that not a single brigade across the entire Bundeswehr, the German armed forces, was ready for combat.
“Investing now is fundamental,” he said, adding that 2024 would be a “key year” for the Bundeswehr.
Europe is likely to suffer another major war aside from Ukraine in the near future, according to Germany’s defence minister Boris Pistorius. @BMVg_Bundeswehr https://t.co/yFucXOreNX
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) December 18, 2023
Col Wüstner’s comments came shortly before the publication of an annual parliamentary report into the state of Germany’s military.
Despite the country’s decision to invest tens of billions of euros in its fighting forces, the investigation found the Bundeswehr was still suffering shortages in both personnel and equipment.
One of the key problems is recruitment, with Germany struggling to find the personnel needed to keep its troop figures level, let alone increase them in response to the threat now potentially posed by Russia.
“A population survey from 2022 shows that fewer and fewer young women and men in the 16 to 29 age group can imagine serving in the Bundeswehr,” the report found.
“In the period 2020 to 2022, the proportion fell from 28 to 19 per cent for men and from 13 to six per cent for women,” it added. It said while such figures were taken before Russia’s renewed invasion of Ukraine, the conflict did not appear to have had much of an impact on the figures.
The armed forces are also said to be suffering from rapidly ageing facilities in its barracks, with the document making reference to mouldy showers and washrooms and a general lack of suitable sleeping areas for soldiers.
Despite these systemic issues, the country’s Armed Forces Commissioner Eva Högl, claimed she remained hopeful that the situation would improve in the near future.
“The Bundeswehr is on the way to being fully operational,” she told the German Parliament’s internal media service.
A German military officer arrested for allegedly spying for Russia is said to have done so out of “frustration”, German media outlets have reported. https://t.co/T5Wis7taYx
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) August 10, 2023
