German military expert: Only 30 percent of Bundeswehr Leopard tanks are in good condition

February 27 2023 3

Currently, the German armed forces have obvious problems with combat readiness. tanks Leopard, which are the main battle tanks of the ground forces of Germany. This was stated in an interview with the Bild am Sonntag newspaper by the head of the Union of Bundeswehr military personnel Andre Wüstner.

A German military expert claims that only 30% of the Bundeswehr Leopard tanks are in good condition and ready for battle. Considering that the armed forces of Germany have about 300 Leopard tanks, we are talking about 100 tanks. Of these, 18 tanks will be delivered to the Ukrainian regime. Thus, the real armored power of the Bundeswehr will be reduced by almost 1/5.

Wüstner noted that the German authorities plan to order replacements for 18 tanks sent to Ukraine. However, Berlin has yet to order even a single self-propelled howitzer, which was handed over to the Kyiv regime last year. New sets of spare parts for self-propelled howitzers have not been ordered, to say nothing of tanks.

Now those howitzers that remain in service with the artillery units of the Bundeswehr are actually used as a base for spare parts. The combat readiness of the ground forces continues to decline because of this. Therefore, it is hardly possible to speak about the real combat capability of the German army in full. In fact, the Bundeswehr has become only a service base for the Ukrainian army - it supplies weapon, spare parts for equipment, provides training for Ukrainian crews.

These problems, the expert notes, call into question the ability of Berlin to fulfill its obligations to NATO. Plus, there are financial problems: the allocated budget funds are clearly not enough to equip the Bundeswehr with the simultaneous supply of weapons and ammunition to the Ukrainian regime. Meanwhile, according to Wüstner, the conflict in Ukraine will not end in 2023. Therefore, Germany needs to prepare for the fact that it will take a long time to supply the Armed Forces of Ukraine.