“The Bundeswehr has too little of everything, and it has had even less since February 24, 2022.”
(Photo: IMAGO/photothek)
Berlin The “turning point” in the German armed forces after Russia’s attack on Ukraine is only beginning to emerge from the point of view of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces, Eva Högl. “The Bundeswehr has too little of everything, and it has had even less since February 24, 2022,” said Högl on Tuesday at the presentation of its annual report in Berlin. A “strength” is also required from the staff.
The SPD politician complained that not a single euro had been spent from the 100 billion euro special fund last year. Even material that had been handed over to the Ukraine had not yet been reordered. As a result, the Bundeswehr is capable of defending itself in alliance with the NATO partners, “but it is not fully operational,” said Högl.
The Commissioner for the Armed Forces, who sees himself as the soldiers’ advocate, made around 70 visits to troops last year and also visited operational areas abroad. Due to the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, the Bundeswehr is “challenged like never before”. But the general conditions left a lot to be desired.
Unlike in previous years, the Federal Ministry of Defense no longer provides regular information on the operational readiness of the individual weapon systems. But there is hardly a large piece of equipment that the Bundeswehr could not use either in larger quantities or better functionality, said Högl. As an example, she referred to the lack of operational readiness of the Tiger attack helicopter.
Högl sees an urgent need for reform in procurement. Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht, who has since resigned, has taken the first steps with the Acceleration Act and the higher thresholds for awards without a call for tenders. But the legal basis and, above all, the procedures and processes would have to be further reformed. This requires courage, a sense of responsibility and the willingness to make decisions at all levels.
The new Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) has already made it clear that he considers his own company with around 3,000 employees at the two locations Berlin and Bonn to be oversized and that there must be clear responsibilities and shorter decision-making processes again.
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The Bundeswehr received a lot of money from the special fund for central procurement projects such as the F-35 fighter plane. But Högl expects an annual report of the amount that has been paid and what the money has been spent on. In addition, however, it is also necessary “to organize the defense budget adequately in the long term”.
Last year, Germany spent around 1.5 percent of its economic output on defense and thus missed the two percent target recently reaffirmed by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD). She is keeping her fingers crossed for Defense Minister Pistorius that he will prevail with the demand to increase the regular defense budget by ten billion euros a year, said Högl. “The money is money well spent.”
In addition to the material equipment, Högl is also concerned about the staff. Around 183,000 soldiers served in the Bundeswehr last year – slightly fewer than in the previous year. The federal government is pursuing the goal of increasing the number of troops to 203,000 women and men by 2031.
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It is true that the number of new hires increased by twelve percent compared to the previous year. However, the number of applications has fallen by 11 percent and the dropout rate of 21 percent within the first six months is far too high, the military commissioner complained. Unfortunately, the lack of WiFi in the parlors or moldy showers didn’t go with the great image films. The Bundeswehr must once again massively increase its efforts to recruit personnel.
However, personnel and equipment also require space. However, for the infrastructure such as the barracks, there is a huge investment requirement of 50 billion euros, said Högl. However, only around one billion euros can be built annually because there is a lack of staff in the planning authorities.
The construction of the liquid gas terminal in Wilhelmshaven, which was completed within 200 days, shows that there is another way, emphasized the military officer: “I would like to have this German pace for the Bundeswehr.”
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