The German Military will become Europe's most powerful - Here is Why

Will Germany's massive increase in defense spending make their military more powerful than the UK, France and even Russia? This video investigates what this spending increase means and how its current military compares to other nations in Europe and the World.

PICTURES & ANIMATIONS
Due to copyright reasons, most pictures do not accurately depict German forces. I don't want to pay for copyright free image libraries so please bare with me if you see non-German euquipment and military hardware.

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[EUMadeSimple]

Thanks for the great feedback! Here are some CLARIFICATION & CORRECTIONS as highlighted in the comments:

1. The value of 76.12 billion euros is based on Germany's GDP in 2020 (2% of 3.8 trillion). For 2021 it would be even more (2% of 4.2 trillion), meaning military spend would be 84.4 billion. As for 2022, if GDP continues to grow it would be even more. I use the world Bank & SIPRI as my main source and the 2021 data has not been released yet (time of recording). Therefore, I used the 2020 value for this video and 1:39 I should have said 2020 (not 2021).

2. The "special fund" is complementary to the 2% goal. It should be enough to meet the 2% target for the next 3.5 years until the next election. However, over the next 5 years, more than 151 billion euros (see sources in description) will be needed to meet the pledge, and the fund will run out. Unless dropping below 2% again, there would have to be an increase in defence spending by changing the fiscal plan or by other means.

3. Should have included Frigates in the military comparison. Germany has 12, UK has 12, France & Russia have 11. 6 of the German Frigates can be compared to Destroyers due high tonnage and strong armaments.

4. Pictures & Animations: Yes, I have used non-German military footage as it is a struggle to find copyright free images. If anyone has a good source then I am all ears. As for G36, there are actually plenty of copyright free images, so I should have used actual footage.. Next time :)

Please check out the sources (in the description) for more detail on all these numbers

Thanks for the great engagement

[erevos]

"Why are the Germans only terrible at war when they are on our side" that got me laughing soo hard

[elgrdo]

I know someone who served for years in the German Bundeswehr. He told me some of those tanks are termed "not combat ready" for having minor issues that are relevant for civil traffic use. :P

[BlissLovePeace]

German standards for what is considered "functional" are different. By most country's standards, that stuff is perfectly fine. I mean Germans consider something not ready, if a scheduled oil change is 10 days late ... it's all quite a bit exaggerated.

[ovuvuevuevueenyetuenwuevu]

My grandfather served in the Wehrmacht during WW2. He single handily destroyed 11 tanks. He was the worst mechanic Germany ever had.

[kyuby]

"Germany will become the most powerful military in Europe ", Me as a French " Awww shit here we go again "

[ich]

As a German, i think one of the biggest Problems of our Army is, that we have not the right Persons in charge and to mutch Bureaucracy. And the Bundeswehr does not have enough Recognition among the People. But thats my Opinion.

[nickg]

Germany is like that playable boss character that is OP when you battle him but gets nerfed when you play as him.

[georgedimakopoulos]

Germany needs an Army of 350 000 men and 350 000 men Reserve. In 27 Divisions (6 Panzer, 2 Motorised Rifle,
3 Cavalry, 2 Air Born, 12 Infantry and 2 Mountain Divisions). Plus 25 000 men Navy and 25 000 men Air Force. With 123 War Ships (With 18 Frigates, 18 Destroyers, 9 Corvettes, 18 Patrol Boats, 6 Mine Hunters, 9 LS T, 3 LSV, 18 Transport Ships, 3 Oilers, 3 Supply Ships, 18 Submarines). Also 300 War Playns (With 150 F/A -18F in 8 AD Sqds, 150 F-16 F in 8 AD Sqds., 150 F-35 C in 8 AS / Recci Sqds, 150 Miraz F3 in 8 Group AD Sqds. Plus 24 C -130E, 48 CN-276, 6 C - 130C RF, 6 AWACS, 36 Training Playns.

[CrazyBunny]

Everyone Gangsta Until An Austrian Painter Becomes The Chancellor

[MrSonofsonof]

I just hope that this money doesn't go on more bloody consultants.

[evilboy]

Germany's strength has always been in technology, and not numbers. WW2, WW1, in both germany did exceptionally well with exceptionally low numbers, this is because of their technology and skill. Therefore I think it's unfair to compare them with other countries based on numbers, but I think it'd be fairer to compare them to other countries based on technology.

[timb.]

Fun fact: getting all needed ammunition would cost circa 20 Mrd Euros, so from the 100 Mrd there are 80 left (inflation not counted) and with this 80 you won’t get all that shit running again. Sry as a german I need to say our military is a shit show, not due to the military or personnel itself but to your great great politicians

[Call-me-James]

Based on my experience in the business world, I think one of the first things to do is stop spending money on consultants. The only thing they actually know how to do is run up their fees.

[rty]

The G36 "scandal" is a joke. Severe overheating of the barrel causes every assault rifle to be less accurate. The test conditions are pretty extreme. It's still perfectly fine for the job. Not a sniper rifle or perfect, but a very comfortable and well designed assault rifle.

[RustyDust]

Umm, just for clarification: The German Grundgesetz, the German constitution, actually forbade ANY German military operations outside German territory unless demanded by an ally as part of the NATO defensive clause, or other similar international bilateral contracts. This applied ESPECIALLY to any kind of aggressive operation launched by any of the participants.
No more aggressive military action was to have its origin from German territory ever again, as defined by our constitution.
Germany's army was to be ONLY a defensive army, not meant to project force outside its borders.
The only exception of German military participation outside German territory was if German military units were part of a mixed UN peace-keeping force.

Thus the participation among military operations such as in Afghanistan and Iraq were not only highly controversial in Germany, but literally broke our constitution as neither had either a NATO mandate nor was it part of a defensive contract.

As so few people actually knew this it is crucical to understand the constant reduction of German military power. Claims that Germany was slacking behind came from those two significant stipulations in our constitution, not from our inability or unwillingness to participate.

These stipulations were part and parcel of the requirement in the changes to the Grundgesetz that were discussed in the 1950's among the three western Allied powers that allowed West Germany ANY rearmament at all, under the NATO pact. Until then West Germany simply had not been allowed ANY military forces. None At All! Period.

These stipulations were accepted among West Germany's population as necessary to keep the peace, and especially any European powers from becoming nervous at a rearmed Germany.
Germany strictly kept to these stipulations and talked about its military with its NATO allies each and every time. Reducing its military was done in FULL cooperation with other NATO allies during the 1990's and 2000's.
So to now frown at Germany when we try to stick to our constitution as it was handed to us by the powers that be is quite hypocritical, don't you think?


Yes, there was a NATO contract that stipulated an increase of military budgetary spending to 2% of GDP, but that had its final target of 2% by 2024. That's something that Trump simply failed to recognized when he always harped about Germany failing to 'pay it's NATO dues'. First off, there NEVER were payments to NATO. Never. Not by a single nation. Ever. Second: the target of 2% was a final target to be reached by 2024. Not before. That the USA always reached it is part of the military-governmental cooperation but had nothing to do with other nations. How other nations were supposed to reach those targets, and when, was not described in the contract, except the final year of 2024.

What is always ignored is that the rental costs of multiple US bases in Germany are simply foisted off on Germany, but not considered as part of the military spending of Germany. If those had been taken in as lost revenue for Germany, then Germany would have easily been above the 2% target since the late 1950's. Just to consider those numbers, for a change.

Now, Germany will not only reach that target in 2022, but it will have increased its spending to roughly 3% of its GDP, and it will spend a total of 100bn € in addition to its yearly increase to cover its previous failures. So at 3% the total spending power of German military could put it on par with China.

When it comes to military equipment readiness status, these are defined by peace-time stats. Any LED lighted button not lighting up means that the entire vehicle is considered unready for military action, by German technical peace-time standards. While this doesn't mean that the German equipment currently is actually working as intended in percentages that are actually good, it is far better than demonstrated by the statitistics.

Yes, there are certain failures in some equipment, but some standards can simply be ignored.
For example, the new Puma IFV had certain limits of inner vehicle gases that were considered harmful to pregnant female soldiers if inhaled for a long time. This applies for peace-time training for pregnant female soldiers, obviously. But in war times, such issues would simply be ignored. Inhalation of certain gases from firing ammunition, or maybe even exhaust fumes, are definitely among the least of the problems the crews will worry about. In war time, you simply would not send out pregnant soldiers in an IFV, and if they volunteered then they will know about the potential issues.
In that case they want a fast, nimble, powerful, defensible vehicle. And THAT'S what the new Puma definitely brings to the battlefield.
Just to give you an example of how certain limitations of peace-time regulations affect the actual readiness state of German military equipment.

[Iceworm]

Well we now know that the 2% target wasn't met in our spending. Very upset

[kawafahra]

If you ask career soldiers about the state of the Bundeswehr :
- Equipment in bad shape to the point of unusable, outdated or, in the very most cases, completely missing although direly needed
- bureaucracy blown up to the point of being worse than a comedy, and not just ineffective, but being the absolute main cost factor and reason for enlisted soldiers leaving the army
thats the main points, but they are enough to block any sense and effort within.

[Aarongoldfein_]

As an Ex-German Soldier, i can tell you, we had so much problems mith our equipment at the end of the 90'th. No general, no minister of defence could handle it, because there was no backup from the goverment or the population in Germany for us. As sad as it sounds, the attack of Russia against the Ukraine was the best ever could happen for the German Bundeswehr. All the years we tried to explain, that we have extrem problems, noone want to hear that. Now they are shocked they have to face these problems.

[andrewtaylor]

The deeper problem with Germany was not simply how much or what percentage of their GDP they were spending, but where was the money that they were spending going? Even at 1.4% GDP they should have seen much better results. Their total spend was not that far outside France and the UK’s. But they have Navy’s. Nuclear Forces, expeditionary Forces. Larger, actually operational Air Forces, and Aircraft Carriers. Germany has none of that to purchase and maintain. Where has the money been going? Looking at the Puma development history may offer a clue. The vehicle looks like it finally might be worthwhile, 10 years late, and with cost overruns that would make even an American queasy. And that’s for a GOOD program that actually resulted in a useable combat vehicle. How much more has been needlessly pissed away on vapor ware projects? Because wherever the money was going, it clearly wasn’t going to the soldiers and their gear. The German Military will need more than simply a budget increase to fix. It will need a top to bottom audit and spending review.