I'm not familiar with the Kiel Institute for the World Economy but if these numbers are to be believed there is nothing worth mentioning left of the formerly vaunted NATO ally known now as Germany. The current armed forces and projected armed forces of Germany wouldn't even be a speed bump in any clash with the Red Army.
Germany is little different from the rest of NATO with the exception of Poland. All the other members are shadow of what they were in 1991 and I'd have to agree with the pundits that money they've spent on "defense" since 1991 has largely been wasted on a social welfare project that has no return value. It's not just the lack of warfighting materials bur of trained and tested NCOs and officers and a similar lack of any kind of meaningful ammunition stocks.
I think if NATO engaged in a shooting war of any kind in the next 10 years it would be out of ammo by the 3rd day. Somebody may finally be waking up to the idea that there is no substitute for ammo, no substitute for cadres of expert trained NCOs and officers and an industry that has kept up with the so-called Revolution in Military Affairs.
They don't have the industry left to build any of the hardware much less the new drones, jamming systems, air defense systems and modern battlefield Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance needed to fight in the 21st century against something considerably more heavily armed and trained then Afghan tribesmen.
The complete Kiel Report is found here. It's worth a look.
10 comments:
it appears Western Europe is pfft; deliberate or planned?
Appalling and unforgivable. Like Boron, I wonder whether it's deliberate.
I remember reading, in the 1970s, translations of 1960s Soviet military articles. At that time the Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) referred to the impact of nuclear weapons on warfare. What is the current definition of the same term?
Interesting, almost like SOMEONE wanted NATO and America effectively disarmed.
I've read here and there in reliable sources that in the defend Israel effort our stocks of anti-aircraft-missile ammo is essentially empty AND resupply looks a LOT like the German scenario.
I'm sure China who PROVIDES the rare earths for our fancy weapon systems the F35 requires 950 pounds, the Naval Standard Missile 6 uses 6-7 pounds.
Worth reading: https://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/rare-earths-provide-critical-weapons-support/
I wonder if China's recent stoppage of several rare earths is a problem.
If it was statecraft, who benefited? Obvious. They also did it throughout the Cold War and the institutions they created still destroy. Interesting that the MI complex in Europe is a dismal failure at maintaining itself unlike the MI complex in the US.
The RMA was a term out I saw creep in to the lexicon in the early 90s and it was used by TopMen Leaders of the Navy and Air Force et al and it described how they were going to invest in bleeding edge technology to revolutionize war by innovating all new technologies and infocentric and cyber warfare to 'dominate the battlespace' and gain Information Superiority and thus a 'frigate a thousand miles away with network centric capabilities to be used to shoot down missiles in Tabriz. It was pure fabrication of reality to sell us stuff that never worked. Hell, they wanted to take all the computers off warships and control their weapons and sensors from safe places ashore......
sorry! not so obvious, not to me, at any rate
I can think of more than one or two nations, individuals, and/or ?foundations that could benefit
I am unable to believe there is one encompassing group of individuals/nations that is "behind it all"; my impression is of very frightened, paranoid rodentia, each trying to get a bite of the apple (hunk of cheese) while positioning itself to take a bite out of their competitor, at the same time trying to keep an eye on its own tail and making certain that the cheese they're biting into isn't poisoned and/or weighted to spring a trap.
to repeat: I think it all boils down to a group of individuals (guys & gals), nations, foundations playing a vicious game of "Hearts" for very high stakes;
stakes defined as people, national treasuries, usw.
Once the Berlin wall fell Europe decided they'd just sit back and let the US do the heavy lifting. So they did...and we did. Now that decision is bearing the inevitable rotten fruit.
Had they not gone along with the slava Ukraine crowd and expanded NATO east the only problems they would have would be all the socialism, which was self inflicted. Like Merkel's immigration agenda.
You would think the self-destruction of an entire country and way of life would be rare. It seems not. At a certain point they just explode. We're right about that time again.
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