4 ms·

It is absolutely not the primary mission of the German army to stop a Russian invasion. I guess it’s not even on their top 10 list

leroy_masochist 9y ago
Stopping a major combined arms invasion from an easterly neighbor is the focus of all of Germany's big training exercises to this day. Instead of whatever the Heer says through its public affairs officers, look at what is actually being practiced and paid for with the Euros in the defense budget. It's not counterinsurgency, it's not disaster relief, it's training out of Wildflecken focused on stopping a theoretical invader from penetrating the Fulda Gap with tanks.
- devereaux 9y ago
  Why not penetrating with tanks, starting Kaliningrad, through Poland??? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulda_Gap https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulda_Gap : "With the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, the reunification of Germany in 1990, and the subsequent withdrawal of Soviet forces, the Fulda Gap lost its strategic importance, but it remains a powerful symbol of the Cold War."
  - leroy_masochist 9y ago
    Sorry, to be clear, the Fulda Gap is one of the places where they still train. It is no longer strategically important territory the way it was during the Cold War but there is a lot of land available there for ground forces to maneuver. Agree that, if what they are training for were to actually occur in present day real life, it would likely be in the general vicinity of Kaliningrad.
junkscience2017 9y ago
The German military in 2017 could probably not stop an invasion by Canada. NATO on the other hand, most certainly exists to deter Russian aggression.
- AcerbicZero 9y ago
  The Canadian army would struggle to invade a locked Tim Hortons. Germany might not be ready for Barbarossa 2: Electric Boogaloo, but they maintain one of the larger and arguably better equipped militaries in Europe.
  - leroy_masochist 9y ago
    Canadian infantry and SOF are actually really legit
  - greedo 9y ago
    They have the best broomsticks, no doubt [1]. The Heer is a shell of its former self. 1. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/02/19/germanys-army-is-so-under-equipped-that-it-used-broomsticks-instead-of-machine-guns/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/02/19...

leroy_masochist 9y ago

Stopping a major combined arms invasion from an easterly neighbor is the focus of all of Germany's big training exercises to this day. Instead of whatever the Heer says through its public affairs officers, look at what is actually being practiced and paid for with the Euros in the defense budget. It's not counterinsurgency, it's not disaster relief, it's training out of Wildflecken focused on stopping a theoretical invader from penetrating the Fulda Gap with tanks.

devereaux 9y ago
Why not penetrating with tanks, starting Kaliningrad, through Poland??? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulda_Gap https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulda_Gap : "With the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, the reunification of Germany in 1990, and the subsequent withdrawal of Soviet forces, the Fulda Gap lost its strategic importance, but it remains a powerful symbol of the Cold War."
- leroy_masochist 9y ago
  Sorry, to be clear, the Fulda Gap is one of the places where they still train. It is no longer strategically important territory the way it was during the Cold War but there is a lot of land available there for ground forces to maneuver. Agree that, if what they are training for were to actually occur in present day real life, it would likely be in the general vicinity of Kaliningrad.

junkscience2017 9y ago

The German military in 2017 could probably not stop an invasion by Canada. NATO on the other hand, most certainly exists to deter Russian aggression.

AcerbicZero 9y ago
The Canadian army would struggle to invade a locked Tim Hortons. Germany might not be ready for Barbarossa 2: Electric Boogaloo, but they maintain one of the larger and arguably better equipped militaries in Europe.
- leroy_masochist 9y ago
  Canadian infantry and SOF are actually really legit
- greedo 9y ago
  They have the best broomsticks, no doubt [1]. The Heer is a shell of its former self. 1. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/02/19/germanys-army-is-so-under-equipped-that-it-used-broomsticks-instead-of-machine-guns/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/02/19...