The President of the German Federal Armed Forces Association, Colonel André Wüstner, criticizes the continued inadequate equipment of the German armed forces and sees promises to NATO as unfulfilled.
“It’s happening too little and too slowly, and I’d like to bring this to the attention of politics” Wüstner told the “World”. Measured by the threat level, the German armed forces “are not in all dimensions operational and sustainable, neither quantitatively nor qualitatively.” The division of ground troops pledged to NATO, which is supposed to be ready this year, will not be fully operational, Wüstner criticized.
“Despite all the efforts in procurement, significant capabilities are still missing, for example, air defense” the Colonel said. “Moreover, everything possible was taken from other units to equip this division. The management of shortages is thus increasing, also due to the reorganization of the Brigade for Lithuania.”
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius’ (SPD) statement that he has submitted as many procurement plans as never before to the parliament is indeed correct, Wüstner said. However, it is also true that “the troops evaluate the actual deliveries of material – and measure them against the minister’s goal of being defense- and sustainably-capable by 2029. And I must conclude that we have large gaps in the ground troops, particularly in leadership capability, logistics, medical service, electronic warfare, long-range artillery, and not least, drones and air defense.