According to a German research institute, the Bundeswehr is roughly on par with the armies of France and Britain in terms of equipment and combat readiness. According to a report by the Center for International Conflict Studies in Bonn, Germany's main systems are more modern and capable of making a contribution comparable to that of Britain and France in NATO's defense. The recent outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war has strengthened the focus of European countries** on military defense. Concerns about defense capabilities have also been expressed within Germany, with the defense minister acknowledging in parliament that the Bundeswehr is unable to protect Germany and calling for increased investment in modernizing the army. The Commander-in-Chief of the Army and the Commissioner for Defence have also expressed concern about the training and equipment of the army.
After the war, the development of German power was limited, and after the end of the Cold War, the military threat to Europe was significantly reduced. Many countries, including Germany, generally limit their military spending to less than 2 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP). Although NATO stipulates that military spending should reach 2% of GDP, even a year after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war, not too many member states meet this standard. (*For German Chancellor Scholz inspecting the Bundeswehr).
Rams, a retired German general, once pointed out in an interview with German television 2 that since 2010, the German Bundeswehr has reduced its establishment, cut expenditures, and reduced reserves of ammunition and equipment, which has seriously affected the response ability of the troops. In addition, German assistance to the Ukrainian army has also weakened Germany's combat readiness to a certain extent. German Chancellor Scholz previously said that he would invest 100 billion euros in special efforts to strengthen Germany's strength, and said that the proportion of German spending will reach the 2 standard of GDP next year. However, the increase in military strength does not happen overnight, and in addition to the procurement of equipment, the training of personnel also takes a considerable amount of time.
* for the Bundeswehr). The Bundeswehr has 180,000 active personnel and military spending of $55.8 billion in 2022, which is basically at the same level as the United Kingdom and France. On the army side, Germany has 62,800 active personnel and nearly 300 Leopard 2 series main battle tanks, with a smaller number of soldiers, but about 100 more main battle tanks than the United Kingdom and France. In terms of the Air Force, the Luftwaffe is equipped with a number of fourth-generation fighters comparable to those of Great Britain and France, but the ordered F35 fifth-generation fighters have not yet been delivered.
Compared with Britain and France, the German Navy has a large gap, mainly in the absence of aircraft carriers, so the total tonnage of the Navy is about 200,000 tons less than that of Britain and about 100,000 tons less than that of France. The biggest gap between Germany and Britain and France lies in strategic strike capabilities. Germany lacks nuclear ** and related delivery capabilities (in addition to aircraft carriers, Germany also lacks strategic strike capabilities). Even in terms of conventional forces, Germany was inferior to Britain and France. Since the end of the Cold War, Europe faced a significantly reduced risk of war, and the military capabilities of most European countries remained relatively low. The Russia-Ukraine war has affected Eastern European countries even more than other regions.
However, it is not the beginning of the 18th or 19th century, and there is still a huge gap between the military strength of Britain, France, and Germany compared with China, the United States and Russia. In the coming years, Poland, an Eastern European country, is expected to be the most visible manifestation of Europe's military strength, especially its army is expected to be much larger than that of Britain, France and Germany. In order to strengthen its military strength, Germany needs to increase military spending and strengthen the training of its soldiers (change the work and rest system of civil servants in the German army). However, these take time to achieve and cannot be solved by investing money alone.