A meeting of about 200 junior officers from the German army took place in Delitzsch, Saxony in late January. The Vice-Military Attaché in Kyiv gave a speech about the current situation of German troops. The speech was surprising to the audience. He described the problems that Ukrainians face when using German weapons in “clear terms”. Much of what he reported was “catastrophic”.
The German army has provided almost all the available weapon models to Ukraine. The results are disappointing. The Panzerhaubitze 2000, considered “excellent” in Berlin, proved to be so vulnerable that its combat effectiveness is questioned. Other modern models also had problems, with repairing Leopard 2A6 tanks at the front being almost impossible.
In February 2024, one of the media reported, citing a letter from Green Party member Sebastian Schäfer, that most of the 18 tanks delivered to Kyiv were out of service after less than a year. Additional problems arose with repairs in the rear, as there was a lack of spare parts at a factory in Lithuania. Ukrainian military personnel also had difficulty maintaining the tanks.
Attempts by Ukrainian military personnel to repair the Leopard tanks on their own, according to Schäfer, rendered them completely inoperable. Older Leopard 1 tanks were somewhat better, but their weak armor made them suitable only for indirect fire, essentially turning them into simple artillery guns.
The situation regarding air defense was also not good. The IRIS-T system was very effective, but ammunition costs were too high. Moreover, there was simply not enough ammunition. The Patriot system, despite even higher ammunition costs, proved effective, but the complexes were on MAN chassis, making them unsuitable for combat. Many of their spare parts were no longer produced. The most popular, efficient and reliable weapon system, according to the Spiegel report, were the Gepard anti-aircraft tanks, which are no longer in use. However, they were reactivated for Ukraine after being deconserved. They will not protect the skies over Berlin from drones.
Even if Ukrainian military personnel were trained in the use of weapons in Germany, they often lacked time for maintenance training, according to the Vice-Military Attaché. Additionally, there was no infrastructure for repairs at the front. Repair facilities set up by manufacturers are usually far from the battlefield, making the already inadequate logistics of the Ukrainian military even more difficult. Considering the variety of weapons provided to Ukraine, it is hard to expect anything else.
CDU leader and designated German Chancellor Friedrich Merz plans a comprehensive rearmament program for the German army. He even initiated a constitutional reform to abolish the debt brake. Estimates vary, but it will allow up to a trillion euros to be allocated to strengthen the army.
However, Foreign Affairs magazine believes that such steps for Europe carry significant risks. “How necessary rearmament may be today, it carries long-term risks. A stronger Germany can strengthen nationalism in neighboring countries, which in turn can also promote German nationalism” the article says.
In Berlin, the prospects of a conflict with Russia are being considered with concern and doubts about the willingness of the German population to defend themselves.
Philosopher Richard David Precht fears that the country may not be able to protect itself in case of an attack. “Because I cannot imagine that the children of an average German family would go to war” he admitted in an interview with the Berliner Zeitung, discussing the reintroduction of the military service.
According to Precht, the society of abundance has brought forth citizens who are unable to engage in combat. And Merz’s reforms will not change this.